Birds of Paradise
by Shadow of the Fire Bird
Summary: A curse is the center of this story, a curse and a young girl from Konohagakure. Her past is unknown, even to her, but events converge around her that point to a dark future. Elsewhere, strange people move through this strange world and other stories are told. To endure life in this world is an endless struggle, especially if you live forever.
1. Daughter of the Peacock

Welcome to my Naruto fanfic. This is a story I've been working on for about a year and a half now, and it's going to be a massive undertaking. I hope you can stick with me for the long haul. Reviews and follows always welcome! :D

* * *

"We're all stories in the end, just make it a good one."

-Steven Moffat

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PART 1: OF PEACOCKS AND SERPENTS

* * *

Chapter 1: Daughter of the Peacock

* * *

Somewhere far away, through the mists and the fields and the sands and the storms and the sea, there was a strange land where strange people lived.  
In this land, there was a village shrouded in the shadows of a large cliffside and surrounded by a dense forest. The people that lived in this village, while usually serene and peaceful, were currently in a bit of an uproar.

Another shop owner screamed in rage as a cloud of frothy white slime exploded all across his produce stand, splattering his once pristine display of fruits and vegetables in icky, gooey fluid.

"Come back here, you brat!" the man hollered furiously, face as red as his apples as the perpetrator of this crime bolted down the dirt path, sandals eagerly slapping the packed earth.

A young girl stumbled through the crowd at a feverish pace, practically becoming a blur amidst the startled pedestrians who all scrambled out of her path to avoid getting run over.

As she raced down the narrow roads, people walking about only caught glimpses of her thanks to her frantic pace. She was small, very small, smaller than most kids around twelve years old. Her skin was dark, darker than most people found in this region. It was the color of milk chocolate and there was a splattering of even darker freckles across her nose and cheeks. It mirrored the pearly white shaving cream that exploded across the glass of the bookstore's display window as the wooden bat the girl clutched in her fist connected with the paper lantern hanging from the store's rafters.  
The bookstore owner shrieked in fury at the mess, her well-manicured nails made a grab for the girl, fingers just barely brushing the tips of her dreadlocks: flowing long and black as night.

The girl's large teal eyes, so bright against her darker skin and hair and too big for her face, twinkled as she laughed and raced away, swinging her bat through every lantern she saw, spilling more and more of the shaving cream she'd stuffed into them under the cover of the previous night across the streets and walls of _Konohagakure's _shopping district.

Finally ducking into a side alley as her pursuers got a little too close for comfort, the girl paused to catch her breath, leaning against the wall and sliding down under the shadow of a fire escape.

She giggled quietly to herself, clutching the shaving-cream-covered bat to her chest, feeling her heart hammer in her ribs.

"Hey, Shi!"

The girl's head snapped up, thinking for half a moment that she'd been discovered by someone more unsavory that the person that actually greeted her.

However, the first thing she saw, was a pair of blue-sandaled feet dangling just above her brow as the boy that addressed her was sitting on the rim of the fire escape she was currently crouched under.

He laughed at her momentarily bewildered expression. "I've heard the uproar all afternoon-_dattebayo_! What did you do this time, Shi-_chan_?"

The girl called Shi giggled as she looked up into an equally cheery face. She held her bat aloft, "I filled all the shop lanterns with shaving cream. One good whack with this, and it splatters everywhere in a very satisfying explosion." Shi grinned proudly at her handiwork, "Pretty great, right?"

The boy above her merely shrugged, "Eh, it's alright."

Shi's smile faltered. "Alright?! Just _alright_?! It was the best prank ever! You could hear the commotion it caused all morning! I'd say it was better than alright."

The boy then jumped down from the edge of the fire escape, landing in front of Shi and turning around to face her. He continued to look unimpressed, raising his blue eyes towards the equally blue sky as though he was pondering something. Shi watched him, fuming slightly; the boy was about her age but a head taller regardless. He appeared to stand even further above her with his thick spikey yellow hair. His face was still chubby with youth, and his round cheeks were marked with curious black lines that spread across his face like whiskers. From head to toe, he was dressed in orange and blue with a pair of thick goggles on his brow, nestled amongst his spikey locks.

"I'd like to see you do better, Naruto," Shi finally ground out.

The boy called Naruto looked back at her, and a smile as sunny as his hair spread across his round face. "Ok then-_dattebayo_!"

Before Shi could utter another word, he'd abruptly jumped over her head and back onto the fire escape behind her before vaulting further upwards until he'd disappeared over the edge of the roof and out of sight.

Shi watched him go, slightly bewildered. "What-? What is he going to do exactly?"

* * *

Shi woke up the following morning just as the sun was starting to rise. The sky was grey and daunting outside the window of her apartment.  
The young girl was lying spread-eagle on her bed, annoyed at the early hour her body had chosen to rise in; however, it couldn't be helped. She could already feel the beginning of a migraine.

Her brow furrowing, Shi stared up at the ceiling, especially at the large crack in the plaster that had slowly spread out from the center of the ceiling and across the edge of the wall, creating a noticeable dip.

Maybe today would be the day the crack finally caused the ceiling to collapse and crush her, sparing the inevitable splitting headache.

No such luck. Shi sighed dramatically as she finally pulled herself from her bed and padded across the room to the kitchenette and began fumbling through the drawers for her medication.

The only good thing about it being so early was that she didn't have to go to the Academy yet, so she could spend the first hours of the day rocking back and forth on her loveseat and trying not to die from the what felt like nails being knocked over and over into her skull.

Migraines were fun.  
However, if she managed to make it through the ordeal, maybe she could go play baseball with her friends in the afternoon after class. It was supposed to be a pleasant day, and she'd finished cleaning all the shaving cream off her bat.

After pouring herself a glass of water and taking a dose of her pills, Shi moved back over to her bed, fussing with her dreadlocks. She debated for a moment whether or not to pull them back into her usual half up/half down hairdo, but then remembered that would probably make her migraine worse, so she opted to leave them down.

Flopping back onto the bed, on her stomach this time, Shi settled into the mattress as its springs bounced under her weight. She glanced up at her alarm clock, which was shaped like a bluebird, and saw that it read a little after 4am.

Shi sighed, suddenly remembering that she'd have to go across the street and cook Naruto breakfast once the kid woke up.

She was determined to get him off his habit of instant ramen first thing in the morning. That could_ not_ be good for one's cholesterol.

Feeling the migraine starting to knock against her skull despite the medication, Shi closed her eyes with a groan and tried to think of nothing.  
They found their way back open regardless, because even in pain, Shi could not sit still and focus for more than a few seconds. Such a demeanor certainly helped with her reflexes during training but were piss poor for her written test scores.  
Shi was average at best.

Rolling onto her back with a sigh, she tried to calm down, wiping sweat off her brow as her other hand groped for the canister of water she kept by her bed. However, her fingers instead brushed a faded piece of paper that was propped next to her alarm clock.

Gently pulling it off her bedside table, Shi unfolded the paper to reveal it was a faded old photograph; the edges were torn and yellowing, and there were heavy creases in the center from the amount of times it had been folded and unfolded.

The photo was of four people, but Shi's eyes always exclusively went to only one of them: the woman on the end who looked just like her.  
She was older, taller and more muscular than Shi would probably ever be, but her skin and hair and eyes were all identical to the young girl. The same warm brown complexion, big teal eyes, a spotting of freckles across the center of her face, even the same deceptive beauty mark under her left eye, bigger and darker than the other marks on her face. The woman even possessed the subtly strange shape of Shi's ears: slightly pointed at the ends. She was wearing the black and purple armor of a high-ranking _shinobi_ of the_ Konohagakure_ as well as the standard _Konoha hitai-ate_ tied across her brow with a black ribbon. Her hair was twisted up into a series of thick boxed braids that wrapped around her shoulders elegantly despite the grime of an obvious battle that had just transpired, judging from the mud and blood on her face and clothes.

This woman…Shi reached out and her fingers pressed the faded photograph, the features of the woman's face were starting to go fuzzy with age, but the resemblance was still there.

This woman, Shi had been told, was her mom.  
Of course, Shi had never met her mother; she had only been told about her by the _Sandaime Hokage_, the leader of _Konoha_. According to him, her mother was a legendary warrior, a powerful _shinobi_ who had been instrumental in both the Second and Third_ Shinobi _World Wars. Her name has also been Shi and her daughter had been named after her following her death. However, Shi's surname was Kujaku and her mothers had been Sarutobi. Shi didn't know who her father was, and the _Hokage _would not speak to her about it, so he had given her the surname 'Peacock' inspired by her mother's legendary animal summoning partner. The _Hokage _most likely thought that giving her the first name of a powerful _kunoichi _with probably many enemies was bad enough. A faux surname would suffice. Sarutobi wasn't even her mother's true clan of origin as she looked nothing like its members. From what little information Shi had been able to press out of the _Hokage_, who had become her guardian following her mother's death, Sarutobi Shi had been a 'gift' from _Takigakure_ following the death of the _Shodai Hokage, Konoha's _first leader nearly fifty years ago. In order to prevent a war between the two villages, the leader of _Takigakure _had sent a powerful and promising child from a prominent clan. The child had been taken into the house of the Sarutobi clan and raised primarily by the _Sandaime Hokage's _family. That child would grow to be a _kunoichi_ feared by nations until the day she died and left her daughter behind.

Shi didn't know very much about her mother beyond that, let alone her faceless father. She tried not to think about it too much though, because it made her head hurt even more than it usually did. She instead opted to fill her time with sports and card games with her friends, training in the Academy and playing pranks on the unsuspecting villagers. Shi pushed down the sour feelings and burning questions about her origin and heritage deep into the recesses of her mind, no longer bothering the current _Hokage _with incessant question about Sarutobi Shi.

Instead, she kept all of them stuffed in the back of her brain no matter how badly she wanted them answered.

No wonder Shi got migraines.

Shi didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep again until she was waking up to see that the sun was shining much higher in the sky. With a small gasp of surprise, she bolted up on her bed, dark dreadlocks flopping everywhere around her head as she whipped it from side to side.

Crap, she'd long since missed breakfast time.  
Scrambling off the bed, Shi hurriedly got dressed in the first pair of shorts and T-shirt she'd tripped over while on her way across the room. Pulling on her blue sandals and tying her hair a green tie-dye bandana across her brow to keep her hair back, Shi grabbed her bookbag and bolted out of her apartment and down the hall.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Iruka-_sensei_ is going to kill me!" was her mantra as she scrambled down the stairs of her apartment building.  
During her rush, she hadn't even noticed that something was obviously wrong with the view outside her window.

Shi's apartment was rather appealingly located near the epicenter of _Konoha_, and therefore she had a rather nice view out her home's main window, which more than made up for the shoddy craftsmanship of the building. From her window, she could see the lush green trees that grew between speckled-white homes with roofs painted bright colors. It also gave her a nice view of the _Hokage-Iwa_, which was the most striking landmark of the entire village.

At the edge of the valley that the _shinobi _village spread out from the center of, a massive cliff rose over the horizon of _Konoha _and carved into the warm brown rock were four faces. These faces were representations of the four _Hokage _that had served as the leaders of _Konohagakure _since its inception nearly a century before Shi was born.  
Now that she was a little less panicked after making it outside, Shi allowed herself a passing glance at the structure. She'd always liked the _Hokage-Iwa_; however, this morning something was so immediately wrong with the landmark that it made the young girl stop dead in the middle of the road.

"That's…" Shi's mouth dropped to her shoes in utter shock.

The massive stone faces carved into the cliffside were covered in an obnoxious and utterly gaudy paint job. Bright green, red, blue and white paint were splattered across the once distinctive faces whose features were now covered in a myriad of spirals, squiggles, dots and curly-Qs. There was even a bright yellow turd painted on the image of the _Sandaime Hokage's_ right cheek. Before Shi had even been able to fully drink in the sight before her, a flash of orange and yellow sprinted past her peripheral vision. It was followed soon after by a pair of _chunin shinobi,_ marked by their distinctive forest-green vests.

"Come back here, you miserable brat!" one of them shouted. "You've really done it this time!"

"It's fantastic, isn't it-_dattebayo_!" the brightly colored flash they were pursuing called back with a shining smile amidst splattered paint that Shi instantly recognized.

"Naruto?!"

The boy then caught her eye, and his grin grew impossible wider. "Told ya I could do better Shi-_chan_!"

Before the girl could respond, Naruto was forced to keep running off down the street as the two _chunin _were still in hot pursuit.

Shi watched them go until they rounded a corner and vanished from view before turning to glance back up at the _Hokage-Iwa_.  
"_Sandaime-sama_ is going to be so pissed."

* * *

When Shi arrived in class that morning, a large smoothie serving as her belated breakfast clutched in one fist, Naruto was nowhere in sight, which she supposed was to be expected. However, Iruka-_sensei_ also wasn't in class yet, so her late arrival wasn't noted by anyone of importance.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shi settled into her usual seat towards the back of the class and took out a pack of cards from her backpack, slurping down the last half of her drink as she laid out the deck for a game of solitaire.

As she spread the cards out, she pondered what could be keeping Iruka-_sensei_. She supposed this meant that Naruto was either still being chased by the _chunin _from earlier and their teacher had been called to assist, or he'd caught the troublesome boy himself and was currently dangling him from the flagpole outside.

A hand suddenly reaching around her ear jerked Shi from her thoughts; she watched as its fingers plucked one of the cards from her hand and placed it onto one of her solitaire rows, creating an effective move.

"Hey!" Shi whipped around to glare at the boy behind her. "Why'd ya do that, Shikamaru?"

The addressed person sitting behind her was a lanky boy with a long neck and a noticeable slouch. He had narrow, dark eyes that always seemed to either be inquisitive or half-asleep, no in-between. His black hair was yanked tightly into a high, spiked ponytail at the back of his scalp that looked almost painful at the way it tugged at his jagged hairline.

"You seemed stuck," the boy called Shikamaru replied in an apathetic drawl, "Last time I try to help. _Mendokuse_…" With that, he put his head down into his folded arms and went to sleep.

Rolling her eyes, Shi turned back to face the front of the class, noting a curious murmur that had started to ripple amidst the other students. Everyone was clearly wondering what was keeping their teacher.

Shi glanced out the window in the direction of the flagpole, half-expecting to see an angry orange and yellow figure hanging from it. However, there was nothing there but the _Ninja Academy_ flag flapping in the early summer breeze.

_What could have happened to Naruto…?_ Shi mused to herself as she chewed on the paper her smoothie straw had come wrapped in. Glancing down at said item nestled in her now empty cup, she pondered rolling the paper up into a spit ball and taking potshots at Sasuke sitting in front of her.

Then again, after last time, he might actually kill her.

As Shi was shooing these dangerous thoughts from her mind, the door to their classroom finally slid open, and everyone immediately fell silent.

However, the quiet was short lived as Iruka strode into the room with some difficulty as he was lugging a thrashing, screaming orange blob along with him. Their teacher arrived bearing Naruto, wrapped up in a coil of rope that Shi recognized from their rock-climbing exercises the other week.

_That Naruto…At least now I know what happened to him_, Shi mused as she watched Iruka set the boy down in the front of the class, staring down at him with his hands on his hips. He was a tall, lean man with golden-brown skin and brown hair pulled into a ponytail almost as high and tight as Shikamaru's. His eyes were dark but warm, and he had a rather nasty scar stretching horizontally across his nose and cheeks.

Shi liked Iruka well enough. He was a good teacher and a genuinely kind person. He certainly had a lot of patience to put up with the antics that went on in their classroom, most often courtesy of Naruto.

Right now, their teacher was once again scolding the boy. "You shouldn't be cutting class and pulling pranks at a time like this," Iruka was saying, "You failed the last two opportunities for the graduation exam. It's clearly not the time to be goofing off."

From his spot on the floor, Naruto turned up his nose. "Hmph!"

Iruka's eye twitched. He then turned and announced to the class: "Attention, everyone. We will be having a re-test on the _Henge no Jutsu_. Everyone will be taking part even if you've already passed."

"What?!" There was a loud exclamation from the seated students followed by groans and clamors of disapproval.

Behind Shi, Shikamaru woke up with a snort and questioned his friend Choji sitting beside him about what was going on.

Shi sighed, pulling at her bandana, Usually, she was capable of putting up with Naruto's antics, but like Iruka-_sensei_, she had her limits as well.

Most of the time, she tried to be understanding. She knew that Naruto didn't necessarily have it easy. He'd been orphaned around the same time as Shi and didn't have any relatives or friends in the village that he could turn to.

To top it off, Shi was pretty much the only person his age that willingly spent time with him on a regular basis. While some of the other boys in their grade would play with him during school, after class was done, they were often quietly shooed home by their parents while being chastised in hushed voices for fraternizing with "troublesome" children.

Shi didn't know why everyone, adults and children alike, avoided Naruto the way they did. When she'd asked the _Hokage _about it, he told her not to ask anymore questions pertaining to the matter.

As Shi was a fellow orphan, she didn't really have anyone telling her to give Naruto a wide berth like everyone else, so she played with him as often as she pleased: usually getting into trouble together and running about the village being pursued by disgruntled _chunin _or angry shopkeepers.

Both Shi and Naruto had crossed paths early, even before they'd been placed in the same class at the Academy. They were both wards of the _Sandaime Hokage_ after all, even if only in the loosest sense of the word. They had been raised by nurses since infancy, but as soon as they could be taught to be self-sufficient, they were peddled from the hospital to small, dingy apartments and allotted weekly allowances courtesy of the _Hokage_ to buy food and any other necessities they might need.

Shi dreaded the day she would have to ask him for extra money, so she could start buying tampons.

As Shi begrudgingly got into line along with the rest of her classmates at the front of the room, she kept glancing over at Naruto.

Despite the fact that she enjoyed spending time with him, she couldn't help feeling a little worried for her friend.  
After all, he continued to pull bigger and more lavish pranks in what he claimed to be some kind of contest with her, but Shi knew better. She was smarter than she looked and could recognize the loneliness Naruto felt in his heart, even if he'd never show it, not even to her.

She recognized it because she'd experienced it herself. Shi also knew that she wasn't much to be relied on exclusively, and that Naruto sought the acceptance of everyone in their village and not just her and Iruka-_sensei_. That's why he devised schemes as lavish as defacing the most sacred _Konoha_ monument: in order to get attention from the people who typically regarded him with nothing more than disgusted glares and harsh whispers.

The young girl shook her head, her dreadlocks dancing around her shoulders, in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She couldn't worry about that now: the re-test was about to begin.

The first person up for the exam was a girl called Haruno Sakura. She was the second prettiest girl in the class, according to the boys Shi hung out with, behind only Yamanaka Ino.

She was a slight girl with a round, cheerful face, jade green eyes and bubblegum pink hair that trailed halfway down her back. It used to be shorter, but she'd started growing it out recently. Sakura was very proud of her hair and always wore it tied up with a bright red ribbon that also then exposed her rather large forehead.  
Shi wasn't being mean, it was just a fact, and she'd been told, it was the reason Sakura remained in second place in terms of the most attractive girl.

Shi didn't really know where she figured in the roster, but it couldn't be especially high. Shi was small, smaller than she should be. Her knees were knobby and always scraped or covered with dirt, and she had an annoying habit of flapping her arms when she got excited. Her freckles were a bit too obtuse, and she had a noticeable white scar on the bridge of her nose. Her slightly pointed ears were a funny shape. Her eyes were also a bit too big for her face, and her dreadlocked hair was perhaps a little too wiry. No one made comments about it though since Iruka had made one boy stand in the hall for nearly half the day with a heavy bucket of water in each hand following a rude remark. Shi blinked, wondering when she'd started caring if people found her attractive.  
All of her friends in their class were boys; Shi didn't have a single female friend, so she'd never really had those kinds of bubbly conversations about boys and hair and clothes.  
Shi made a face. Yeah, she didn't care. She'd rather go play volleyball or cricket on the field with Kiba and Naruto.

As Shi's thoughts continued to go a mile a minute, Sakura finished her presentation of the _Henge no Jutsu: _she put her fingers together in a series of hand-signs going in the order of _Inu-I-Hitsuji, _there was a puff of smoke and suddenly Sakura had vanished, and Iruka-_sensei_ stood in her place.  
Of course, it was only a replica as the real Iruka was watching her perform the _jutsu_ closely. The techinque was meant to transform a person into something or someone else as a means of disguise or confusing the enemy. It was also one of the hardest _jutsu_ the class had been taught up until that point, and therefore made a pretty good pop-quiz. The students had to learn to think on their feet if they were to become full-fledge _shinobi_ upon graduation.

That was, after all, what _Konohagakure_ was: a _shinobi _village. Its chief export was human beings: people who were trained within their clans and by the elders of the village to perform fantastical techniques that enabled them to become unbeatable in combat. Children were ushered by their parents into the Ninja Academy, many eager to please and uphold centuries of tradition. They trained until their early teens when they graduated and become _genin _who would then go out on missions given to them by the _Hokage_ or the higher-ranked _jonin_. The missions would give them money and experience that would aid them and their village in gaining strength and power against their enemies, especially in times of war.  
Of course, there hadn't been a war for nearly two decades so there wasn't anything to worry about there.  
Despite that,_ shinobi_ saw battle a lot, even _kunoichi_, which was the female equivalent. Shi was going to become a _kunoichi _like her mother; she had decided that fact when she was young. Perhaps, somewhere in her migraine-racked mind, she'd believed it might make her feel more connected to the elusive woman, who was her only known relation.

Sakura cheered as Iruka announced she'd passed the pop-quiz. "_Shannaro_! I did it!" the girl jumped up and down, her pink hair bouncing lightly around her shoulders. "Did you see that, Sasuke-_kun_?" she eagerly asked the boy that was standing next in line.

He didn't respond.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're next," Iruka then said to him.

The boy stepped forward without a word. Uchiha Sasuke was a strong presence in their class; he had a lean, pale, almost feminine face pleasantly accented by dark eyes and blue-black hair that was parted on either side of his face and jutted out the back like it had been cut unevenly. Aside from being considered handsome, Sasuke was also very smart: he had the highest test scores of their class and was the most skilled in _ninjutsu_ out of all of them. He'd pass this test no problem.

Sure enough, after going through the same motions as Sakura, Sasuke turned into another exact duplicate of Iruka-_sensei._  
"Ok." Their teacher nodded in approval, marking Sasuke down on his clipboard as the boy changed back and stepped to the back of the line.

After Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru went, managing to perform the_ jutsu_ adequately despite the fact that Shi was pretty sure he'd been asleep when they'd learn it. After him, came Yamanaka Ino who was the aforementioned "prettiest girl" in the class.  
She was indeed very beautiful: her skin was clear and bright and pleasantly paired with ice-blue eyes and long platinum blonde hair pulled into an elegant ponytail. She also radiated confidence as she stepped up to take the test, wearing a stylish purple two-piece set accented by white wraps and silver earrings.

After she passed the test, Iruka looked down at his clipboard to call the next name.

"Kujaku Shi."

Shi blinked, startled. _Oh right, I'm next._

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and placed her hands together before performing the series of seals: _Dog…Boar…Ram_

Bang! Puff of smoke, and the _jutsu_ was a success.

"Good job." Iruka commended her, marking beside her name to show she passed.

Shi exhaled. She'd been so scatter-brained today; she'd thought it might not have worked.

As she then made her way towards the back of the line, she passed Naruto and jerked her hand to get him to meet her eye. When he did, she gave him a thumbs up.

He just looked back at her, disgruntled, and Shi fell back into line disappointed.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Grumblings reverberated along the line of students as the addressed slumped forward.

"This a real pain," Shikamaru muttered from beside Shi.

"And it's all _his _fault," Ino added pointedly.

"Like I care what you guys think!" Naruto snapped at her. He then placed his hands together in a series of seals that looked odd compared to everyone else. Shi leaned forward and squinted, trying to see.  
"Transform!" Naruto called as a curious blue light consumed him, followed by a burst of white smoke.

The figure standing before them, however, was _not _Iruka-_sensei. _Rather, it was a lanky, curvaceous girl with a 'full set' that was clearly on display due to the only thing covering her naked skin were the smoke clouds. She had long yellow hair pulled into pigtails and lustful blue eyes. She giggled as she blew a kiss at Iruka.

The teacher's face went white as chalk, and he almost fainted on the spot as most of the class burst into peals of laughter.

"Like that?!" Naruto jeered, transforming back, "I call it the _Oiroke no Jutsu-dattebyo!_"

"Stop making up useless _jutsu_!" Iruka thundered, his face now red as a beet with both anger and embarrassment.

Shi, meanwhile, couldn't seem to get a hold of herself. She was among those that were laughing themselves into a stupor; she gripped her stomach, trying to breathe.

Perhaps the boys in their class were wrong; it seemed _Naruto_ was actually the prettiest girl in their class.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto spent the entirety of their lunch break as well as the after-school study period washing his handiwork off the _Hokage-Iwa_ under Iruka-_sensei_'s supervision.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class didn't have a whole lot of studying to do as were just waiting for the formal school year to end, so they could take the graduation exam tomorrow.

True to her word, Shi played a rowdy game of baseball with Shikamaru, his friend Akimichi Choji, and Inuzuka Kiba.

However, the game was cut abruptly short when the latter's ninja hound, Akumaru, snatched a pop fly out of mid-air and scampered away with it, gnawing at the baseball with his slobber-covered fangs.

Now that the game was effectively ruined as not even Kiba could get the puppy to 'drop it', the boys all decided to head home, and Shi opted to as well.

As she walked the streets of _Konoha_, hands stuffed into the pockets of her hoodie, Shi glanced up at the _Hokage-Iwa_ and saw that all of the paint had been scrubbed off.

Quirking a brow, Shi wondered where Naruto had gone after finishing his punishment chore. Did Iruka-_sensei _have him do something else once it was done?

Just as she was pondering this, she passed a small shack-like ramen shop that was nestled on the corner of downtown_ Konoha_. The place was called _Ichiraku_ and was really nothing more than a covered bar with a curtain for a door that almost seemed to wave in potential customers. Now that the sun had started to set, the lanterns were all being lit, and the warm glow from_ Ichiraku_ looked particularly inviting.

As Shi passed the stand, she fished into her pockets for her wallet and pulled it out, hoping to find enough funds for dinner, but only a few measly _ryo_ fell out.  
"Damn it…"

"Shi-_chan_!"

The girl glanced up at the familiar, enthusiastic voice to see Naruto waving at her from a stool inside the _Ichiraku _stand. He was grinning from ear to ear as he slurped away at a massive bowl of ramen.

Beside him, Iruka leaned over to greet her as well. "Ah, Shi. Are you hungry?"

The girl gave a sheepish smile. "A bit…" Her stomach growled loudly just then, betraying the half-truth.

Iruka chuckled as Shi flushed. "Come on in, I'll treat you to a bowl."

Shi's face lit up. "Really?!"

"Yeah, come on in, Shi! Iruka-_sensei'_s paying tonight." Naruto eagerly called to her as he finished his bowl and waved to the man behind the counter, whose name was Teuchi and the owner of _Ichiraku Ramen_, for a refill.

Shi quickly slipped through the faded curtain and sat down beside Naruto.

"What can I get you, sweetheart?" The woman behind the counter, who was the owner's daughter, asked her, smiling broadly.

"Whatever Naruto ordered is fine with me, just maybe a bit less meat."

"You can't take off any of the meat!" Naruto exclaimed, looking horrified as another of his protein-packed ramen dishes was handed to him by Teuchi.

Shi just laughed before leaning around her friend to address their teacher. "Thanks for doing this, Iruka-_sensei_."

Their teacher smiled warmly back at her. "It's the least I can do. I know you kids could probably use a big meal like this every so often."

"Uh huh!" Shi agreed as her own bowl was passed to her, and she quickly broke apart her chopsticks and dug in.

Iruka then turned to Naruto, who was already halfway through his second bowl, "So Naruto, why exactly did you deface the_ Hokage_ statues?"

"We were having a contest," Naruto replied simply. "I wanted to pull a better prank than Shi." He then grinned at her. "I think I won."

Shi scowled. "I'll give this one, but there's always a next time."

"That hardly seems an appropriate target for a simple prank," Iruka chastised them. "Have you forgotten the importance of the men those stone carvings represent?"

"Of course not!" Naruto scoffed.

"It would be impossible to forget," Shi added. "The _Hokage_ is an integral part of the village. They're the strongest _shinobi _of their time."

"Especially the _Yondaime Hokage_," Naruto added, "He was a hero; he saved this village from the _Kyubi_."

Shi nodded in agreement. While the _Sandaime Hokage _was still technically ruling the village, a few years before she and Naruto had been born, he'd retired and appointed another person as _Konoha's_ fourth leader. However, sometime later, the village was attacked by a massive foxlike beast with nine tails. The creature killed many people, including Sarutobi Shi, Shi's mother as well as Iruka-_sensei's_ parents and many other people. The only way to stop the _Kyubi _was for the _Yondaime Hokage_ to sacrifice his life in order to seal him away.

It had been a true act of heroism and _Yondaime-sama_ would always be regarded as a hero.  
Shi sighed, flicking her chopsticks through her fingers.

"If you knew all this, then why did you deface the carvings?" Iruka continued to press Naruto.

"Because one day I'm going to be the _Hokage_," Naruto declared, "And I'll be the greatest _Hokage_ of them all!"

Shi nodded as she went back to slurping her noodles. As his friend, she'd heard this spiel before.

"When I become _Hokage_, everyone will finally have to accept me," Naruto continued.

Iruka's expression was unreadable as he regarded the boy. Glancing back up, Shi met his eyes and gave him a pointed look.

"_Sensei_?" Naruto jerked his attention back to him. "Can I ask a favor?"

"What? Do you want another bowl?"

"No... Can I borrow your _hitai-ate_? Just for a little while?"

"Oh this?" Iruka tapped the blue and silver headband tied around his brow. "No, I'm afraid not. These are only for ninja who have passed the graduation exam. Tomorrow another test is being offered, if you pass it, you'll get your own."

"Alright, alright," Naruto harrumphed, looking disappointed. "Then I'd like another bowl please."

"Me too!" Shi called, finishing her noodles as she spoke.

Iruka groaned at the expense. "Fine."

* * *

The following day, Shi made it to class _on time_, and settled down into her seat beside Naruto, who actually seemed to be early that day, which never happened.

The tension in the room was so intense, it could be cut with a _kunai_, and it was no wonder. Today was the day of the last graduation exam of the year; today was the day that decided if everyone present had what it took to go on to become proper_ Konoha_ ninja.

After what felt like an eternity, Iruka stepped into the room with his clipboard, and everyone once again stopped talking, although this time with burning anticipation rather than curiosity.

All eyes were on their_ sensei_ as he took his place at the front of the class beside his desk. Clearing his throat, he read from the clipboard: "Today is the final Graduation Exam of the year. It will be on the _Bunshin no Jutsu. _

Shi swallowed_. Damn, that one's even harder than the Henge no Jutsu._

Beside her, she felt Naruto silently lose it. She knew how piss poor at this_ jutsu_ he was. She barely had a grasp on it herself.

Exhaling, Shi patted her hair and hoped for the best, trying to send her friend beside her good vibes as their teacher continued.

Iruka then went on to explain that the students would be called into an empty classroom where they would perform the _jutsu_ and be judged by himself and another _chunin_. If they passed, they graduated. If they failed…Well, he didn't have tell them.

Shi swallowed again, her heart hammering against her ribs.

After giving the instructions, Iruka stepped into the neighboring classroom leaving his students to stew in anxiety and egg one another on.

Once he was gone, Shi leaned over to Naruto. "Are you okay?"

He gritted his teeth. "Me? I'm fine! I'll pass this exam no sweat-_dattebayo!_"

Shi couldn't help but smile at his confidence. "Sounds good to me."

The next half hour passed at both the speed of light and the pace of a crawl simultaneously. Before Shi knew it, her name was called, and she slowly got up to make her way next door.

As she turned to go, she glanced back in time to see Naruto give her a winning smile and a thumbs up.

Feeling a little better, she returned it with a half-hearted wave before stepping into the hall and then the neighboring classroom.

Almost all of the furniture had been cleared out of the room; all that remained was a large desk against the chalkboard. Iruka and another _chunin_ were sitting behind it and a couple dozen blue and silver headbands were lined neatly before them.

At the sight of them, Shi's blood pounded in her ears.

_So close…_

"Kujaku Shi," Iruka called to her, jerking her attention back to him. "Please begin the exam."

"Uh, right." Taking a deep breath, Shi assumed her stance and placed her hands together into the proper sign.  
She felt the surge of _chakra_, her natural energy, gather and fold around her body before she managed to grasp hold of what felt like a torrent within her. A second later, she'd siphoned it off two separate ways, and when she opened her eyes, there were two exact copies of herself flanking her on either side.

Shi released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding before looking back to Iruka and the other _chunin_, who was a lean, pointed face man with chin-length light blue hair.

Iruka looked down at his clipboard and wrote something down on it.

The other _chunin_ smiled at her. "Two clones. That is an adequate performance. What do you say, Iruka-_senpai_?"

Shi puffed out her cheeks. _Adequate…Good enough._

"It's a pass from me," Iruka replied without looking up before finally meeting Shi's anxious gaze, and he smiled. "Congratulations, Shi. You've graduated."

"Really?!" Shi's face burst into the broadest of grins as she jumped up and down, flapping her arms, "Hell yeah! I-I mean…" she faltered, "Thank you_, sensei_." With a quick bow, she then scampered up to the front of the classroom to accept the _shinobi hitai-ate_ from Iruka.

Shi giggled with glee as she made her way out of the classroom, the forehead protector clutched tightly in her fist. "Yes!" she pumped the air as she made it outside, amidst a few of her classmates that had gone before her and already passed. Their parents were also there: proud mothers and fathers that exclaimed happily at their children's success.  
"You're a ninja now! That's my boy."

"Come on, I'll cook us something special for dinner tonight."

Shi watched a mother lead her daughter across the courtyard and felt a small pang in her chest. Shaking it off, she looked the other way and spied Choji, who was already wearing his headband nestled in his auburn hair and was scarfing down a bag of 'celebratory potato chips'.

Choji was a pudgy boy, most members of his clan were. He had lean dark eyes that usually curled up when he smiled or was angry. Shi thought his face was shaped like a dumpling, and he also had cute little red spirals circling his cheeks.

"Shi! You passed!" he exclaimed upon seeing her.

"Somehow," the girl agreed with a laugh.

"My dad's gonna treat me and Shikamaru to barbeque when he inevitably passes," the boy continued between potato chips. "Wanna come?"

"I should probably wait for Naruto," Shi replied, slightly sheepish. "He'll be dead last, so everyone will be gone by then."

"Well, if you're sure," Choji brushed her off. "I hope he does well."

Shi sighed. "Me too."

One by one, students came out of the hall to greet their parents, each of them holding a _hitai-ate_ in their hands and some already tied it across their brows.

Shi stood off to the side as her classmates gathered in clusters of friends and families, all commending their success.

She held her headband tightly in her fist as she leaned against the school wall, rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited.

Over time, the crowd began to thin until only a few families were left lingering. After what felt like forever, the door opened, and Naruto stepped out.

"Naruto!" Shi pushed herself off the wall and waved to him, but her exuberance instantly dissipated when she saw that her friend did not have a headband anywhere on his person.  
"You…" she trailed off as the boy slowly brushed past her, his eyes downcast, and made his way to the old tree at the edge of the courtyard.

Without a word, he settled himself onto the old, wooden swing that hung from the tree's largest branch, clutching the ropes tightly in his fist and gazing down at his shadow.

He looked so utterly crestfallen, it broke Shi's heart, and any feelings of relief or excitement she'd felt at having passed the exam now tasted bitter in her mouth.

"Naruto, hey…" she cautiously made her way over to him. "Why don't we-Why don't you come over to my place tonight. I can cook you dinner…whatever you want to eat. Ramen, maybe? I can put on as much meat as you'd like!" She tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but her friend's expression didn't change, so it didn't seem to have worked.

"Shi?"

"Yeah."

"No offense, but I'd like to be alone right now."

Shi jerked back, affronted. "Oh…I mean, ok. That's-That's fine, I guess." Slowly, she stepped away from him before turning and walking at a rather quick pace towards the gate, glancing back only once to give Naruto a sympathetic, yet pained look.

As she did so, she spied the blue-haired _chunin_ that had helped judge their exams come out of the school and cross the yard over to Naruto.

Shi assumed he was trying to comfort the boy, and so took off, jumping over the wall and then up onto the nearby rooftops, heading home without a second thought.

* * *

Shi spent the night alone in her apartment. She cooked a stir-fry for dinner, and Naruto's absence was felt greatly. She had more meat than she knew what to do with, and she wasn't as big a fan of it as Naruto was.

As she munched her meal alone at her single-chair table, Shi pondered the day's events, her eyes constantly flickering back to the headband occupying the space beside her plate.

She felt so bad for Naruto that she couldn't even stand it. Not only had the boy's dreams been crushed, but over the last few hours, it had slowly sunk in that she would be moving on towards becoming a_ shinobi_ without him. Shi didn't know what she'd do without Naruto.

Despite being well-liked in general and getting along with most people, Shi had a special connection with the yellow-haired ball of chaos, and not seeing him as often as she did would be more than she could take.

With that unsettling thought, Shi finished her food, scraped the leftovers into the trash and washed the plate before changing into her pajamas and settling down on her bed with a comic in her lap, trying to distract her mind, so that it could eventually sleep.

She did not need another migraine.

Shi's eyes were just starting to droop shut when a loud thump coming from over her head made her jerk back awake.

She glanced up wearily, almost certain that large ceiling crack was about to do her in, but as her hazy mind cleared, she realized it was actually someone landing on her roof.

Scrambling off her bed, Shi stumbled to the window and yanked it open, leaning out as far as she dared to try and see who was standing on top of her building.

She nearly fell out the window when she caught sight of the figure, illuminated by the moon and the glow of _Konoha's_ streetlamps.  
"Iruka-_sensei_?"

The_ chunin_ teacher looked down at her in shock. He was panting slightly, and his face look lined with sweat and worry. "Shi?"

"What's going on?"

"Shi!" Iruka suddenly leapt down until he was crouched on her windowsill, causing the young girl to jerk back in surprise.  
"Naruto…" her teacher panted as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Have you seen Naruto?"

The young girl shook her head, bewildered. "Not since this afternoon…Why? What's happened?"

"If Naruto didn't want to be found," Iruka continued, ignoring her question, "Where would he have gone?"

Shi suddenly felt afraid; it felt like there was a lump pushing at the base of her throat, and she licked her lips as they dried. "There's…There's a place in the woods that we sometimes go to train or shoot slingshots or-" She was about to say play hooky but stopped herself, remembering who she was talking to despite the situation.

"A place in the woods," Iruka squeezed her shoulders, "Can you take me there?"

Shi pushed his arms away, now exceptionally freaked out. "_Sensei_! Please, tell me what's going on. Did something happen to Naruto?!"

Her teacher sighed, looking rather pained as he regarded her. "We have been informed that Naruto stole _Fuin no Sho_."

Shi gaped. "He stole the-You mean the legendary scroll of sealing?!"

"The very same," Iruka nodded grimly. "The scroll full of techniques that were deemed too dangerous and so were made _kinjutsu_."

Shi's eyes were even larger as she drank all this in, "And Naruto stole this scroll? But why?!"

Iruka shook his head. "I don't know, but we don't have much time. All of the available _chunin_ and _jonin_ in Konoha are out looking for him, and if they find Naruto first…I can't guarantee they won't hurt him."

Shi swallowed, her throat dry. "Ok. I'll take you to the place in the woods."

Iruka looked momentarily relieved. "Thank you, Shi."

The girl nodded as she quickly tossed her hoodie on over her pajamas, pulled on her sandals and after a moment, snatched her headband off the kitchen table, tying it firmly around her forehead. "Let's go."


	2. Son of the Fox

Chapter 2: Son of the Fox

* * *

Shi lead Iruka through_ Konoha_ at a dizzying pace; the buildings zipped past them so fast it almost made her head spin, but she kept at it, trying to keep pace with her _chunin_ teacher. Shi had barely been a _genin _for twelve hours; she hadn't expected this much excitement so early into her _shinobi_ career.

It wasn't long before the houses surrounding them began to thin, growing further apart until finally there were nothing but shacks and then the wall marking the boarder of _Konoha_ stretched out before them.

Pausing on top of the wall to catch her breath, Shi looked out over the dense forest that stretched out from the boarder of_ Konoha_ all the way to the mountains on the horizon. The open countryside of the _Hi no Kuni_ was daunting and even intimidating if a person didn't know how to navigate it.

Thankfully, Shi soon spotted the curious-looking knotted tree growing on the very edge of the forest. Quickly, she hopped over to the tree and placed her hand onto the rough bark. She closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment. They soon snapped open again, and she turned back to her teacher.  
"I was right. He went this way," she whispered to Iruka before plunging into the dense foliage, her teacher close behind her.

The trek through the woods under the cover of night was nerve-wracking. The near silence was maddening, but Shi was also expecting a_ jonin_ to jump out of the bushes at any moment and confront them. Not to mention it was harder to navigate the woods in the near-pitch black darkness with only the moon for light.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they reached their destination.

Dropping down on a large branch, Shi pointed ahead of them towards the clearing, familiar to her despite the darkness. "It's over there," she whispered to Iruka.

Her _sensei _nodded before lithely leaping down from the tree and landing on the ground. He then deer-walked over towards the clearing. As he did so, Shi could hear distinct movement amidst the shadows, like someone who wasn't even trying to conceal themselves.

Knowing immediately it was Naruto, she hastily jumped down from the branch and scrambled after Iruka.

Sure enough, sitting in the middle of the clearing was Naruto; the boy was frantically pouring over a massive scroll that was spilling across his lap from a roll as tall as Shi was. The paper was yellowed and faded and the writing illusive and messy.  
Naruto appeared to be struggling to understand it, if his frantic muttering was any indication.

"Naruto!" Iruka barked, striding up behind him.

The boy jumped and spun around; his face going rather green when he beheld his teacher.

Shi shifted awkwardly behind them, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt at getting her friend in trouble. However, she then remembered what Iruka had said and reminded herself that he was the best person to have found Naruto given the circumstances.

However, Naruto's expression suddenly softened. "Iruka-_sensei_! Sorry, you startled me." The boy jumped up, waving his arms: "I did it-_dattebayo_! I mastered a_ jutsu_ on the scroll."

Iruka's eyes widened. "You did what?!"

"It's only one, but it should be enough. It's true that if I master a_ jutsu_ on the scroll, I can graduate, right? Once you see that I can do it, you'll let me graduate-_dattebayo_!"

"That's not…" Shi faltered, looking at Iruka. "That's not true, right?"

Their teacher shook his head, licking his dry lips. "Naruto, who told you that?"

"Mizuki-_sensei_! He told me about the scroll."

Shi arched an eyebrow, "Mizuki?" She suddenly remembered the blue-haired _chunin_ from earlier. "Iruka-_sensei_-"

There was a sudden noise from the treetops and then several things happened at once.  
Iruka shouted 'get down!', shoving Naruto, who was closest, out of the way until the boy fell on his butt in the grass. At the same time, Shi dropped to her stomach just as a cluster of _kunai_ sailed over her head. There was a crack, a clatter and a sickening squelch, and Shi glanced up to see that Iruka had backed up against a tree, several of the _kunai _were jutting out of the bark to create a rough perimeter around his body, but two of the blades had embedded into his hip and thigh.

"I see now…how it is," he wheezed out.

Shi whipped around to see their attacker perched in the tree just behind them. It was the blue-haired _chunin sensei_ known as Mizuki, poised to attack with two massive _shuriken_ strapped to his back and a predatory sneer on his face.  
"Naruto, give me that scroll."

The boy looked bewildered. "Wait…What's going on here?"

"N-Naruto!" Iruka panted, struggling to rip the second_ kunai _out of his thigh, "Whatever you do, do not give him that scroll. It's a dangerous relic that contains powerful and deadly _kinjutsu_. That's why it was sealed away."

Shi sat up. "So, then you used Naruto to get the scroll for yourself!" she yelled up at Mizuki, anger bubbling up in her throat.

However, the _chunin sensei _ignored her outburst as he still regarded Naruto. "You know Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll, Naruto."

The boy looked both shocked and afraid as he looked between the two _chunin_, clearly unsure of what to do.

"He's lying, Naruto! Don't listen to him."

"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense," Shi agreed, finally working up the courage to move closer to Iruka. "Why would Iruka care if an Academy student had a powerful scroll like that. There's no way we could use it!"

Mizuki chuckled at her words, "That would be true if Naruto was just a normal academy student, but he isn't."

"W-What are you talking about?" Shi could actually detect the tremor of fear in Naruto's voice.

Mizuki cocked his head to the side, ponderous and jeering. "Shall I tell you the big secret? The one that's so dangerous a law had to be put in place that it was never spoken of?"

"Don't you dare!" Iruka snarled, actually sounding rather desperate.

Shi looked back at him, "Iruka-_sensei_…?"

"A law?!" Naruto blurted. "What law? Why can't the secret be told?"

"It's a secret that's been kept from you all your life, Naruto," Mizuki sneered. "Shall I tell it to you?"

"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka almost sounded as though he were pleading, but there was nothing he could do.

"Twelve years ago, a great tragedy fell upon this village in the form of a terrifying _Kyubi _monster. That creature could not be stopped or killed, and it took the lives of many _shinobi _in this village including the _Yondaime Hokage_. That demon fox that couldn't be destroyed; that monster is you, Naruto!"

It was as though something snapped in the air surrounding the clearing. Everyone fell deathly silent.

Shi could only gape; the only sound she could hear being her heart thundering in her ears. Naruto…her friend Naruto was the _Kyubi_? The fox that had attacked her village and killed her mother as well as countless others?

"W-What…?" Naruto finally seemed to have found his voice, albeit it was shaky.

"It's the truth," Mizuki declared, "You are the demon fox spirit who killed Iruka's parents, Shi's mother and countless others."

"Stop it!" Iruka screamed, but it might as well have been a whisper.

"Everyone has been deceiving you ever since," Mizuki continued.

"Naruto!" Shi tried to call out to her friend, running over to him, but he didn't seem to be able to hear her.

Mizuki chuckled. "Didn't you find it strange? Weren't you curious to know why everyone hated you so much?"

"Naruto!" Shi called out to him again as desperate tears sprang into his eyes.  
Why won't he listen to her?

"No…" he whispered. "No…No! NO! NO! NO!" he screamed out over and over again as tears poured thickly from his eyes and there was a sudden surge of_ chakra_ that exploded from his body like a hurricane.

It knocked Shi off her feet, and she slammed into the ground hard, barely able to sit back up as she struggled to breathe. "N-Naruto…"

"Even this girl and your _sensei_ hate you for what you've done to their loved ones," Mizuki declared. "You are a scourge on this village." At his words, he pulled one of his massive _shuriken _off his back, "Die, Naruto!" He threw it.

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion: the _shuriken _left Mizuki's fingertips and sailed through the air with an ear-piercing sound. Naruto tried to scramble away as the weapon sliced through the air towards him. Shi cried out, but it was like she'd forgotten to speak.

Suddenly, "Naruto, get down!" The call ripped through the air, louder than the blades as the boy flattened his body in the grass, hands over his head, and then Iruka was on top of him and the sound of impact ripped through the night and then silence, and it was like everything had frozen.

Shi gasped, falling backwards onto the grass and feeling the spotted heat dripping down her cheeks as Iruka's blood had splattered her there. "I-Iruka…_sensei_?" Her throat felt dry and swollen like she couldn't breathe.

Their teacher lay slumped over Naruto's body, one of the spikes of the massive _shuriken_ buried halfway into his back after he'd thrown himself between it and Naruto.

The boy stared up at him in shock, flecks of blood dotting his face as well, "W-Why..?"

Iruka struggled to respond, retching as his whole body trembled.  
"Because we are the same…" he whispered. "After my parents died, I had no one to support me. No one paid any attention to me. I wasn't a good student; I was the class clown because it got people to notice me. I couldn't be noticed for excellence, so I kept doing stupid things. It was hard…It was so hard."  
More liquid fell onto Naruto's face, but it wasn't blood; it was clear. It was tears.  
"You were lonely, there was no one there to help you…I'm so sorry, Naruto." Iruka sobbed as he looked down at his student. "If I had been more responsible, maybe you wouldn't have suffered so much."

Shi stared at the display before her, feeling her fists trembling in the grass. Naruto…Naruto was her friend, right? She had tried her best to be there for him, to support him and distract him from the difficult things in his life. Had it not been enough? Had he still felt the loneliness gnawing at his insides despite her presence?  
_No…_Shi exhaled, Of course it wasn't enough. She was only one person. What good does a single person liking you do when everyone else despises you?

Above them, Mizuki laughed. "You honestly believe that nonsense? Iruka's always hated you for what you've done to his parents. He's only saying those things, so he can get the scroll back."

Naruto twisted under Iruka, his hand going to the scroll sandwiched between them. Suddenly, without a word, he snatched it and bolted.

"Naruto!" Shi jumped up and followed him without a second thought as the boy took off into the underbrush, the scroll now strapped to his back. "Naruto, wait!"

"Do not endanger yourself, girl!" Mizuki called after her snidely. "Do you not see the hatred in his eyes? The _Kyubi _will take his revenge on this village and destroy us all using the _Fuin no_ _Sho_!"

"Naruto, wait!" Shi struggled to keep up. She was practically running blind; she couldn't see straight, and her thoughts were racing faster than her heartbeat. She could feel the beginning of a migraine, but she pushed through it.

Naruto…Naruto was her friend. Iruka was right; they were the same. His words were as true for her as they were for him. Shi was alone in her apartment every night, nursing both physical and emotional pain. She was an anomaly, there was no one else like her in _Konoha_, and it was because they were so different that Shi and Naruto found each other, because their differences made them the same.

"Naruto!" Shi's hand reached out, and instantly her friend was no longer a million miles away but only an inch from her. Her fingers snatched at his bright orange jacket and suddenly the pair of them were tumbling down from the trees and hitting the forest floor.

Naruto rolled away from her, clutching the scroll to his chest. "Sh-Shi…" He looked wild, but Mizuki was wrong. He didn't look angry; he looked scared.

"Naruto…" Shi reached out again, and he started to shy away, but her arms grabbed hold of him before he could, and she closed the space between them as she pulled him into a crushing hug, holding him like she was afraid he'd break apart if she let go. "I've got you. It's going to be okay now. It's going to be alright."

Shi didn't know what to do; her mind was racing at the speed of sound. She didn't know what to focus on first, but right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting Naruto to safety.

Suddenly, there was rustling near them, and Shi snapped out of her stupor. "Come on!" She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him behind a tree, crouching beside him as he still clutched the _Fuin no Sho_. "Whatever you do, don't let go of that scroll," she whispered.

At that moment, a duplicate of Naruto, scroll and all, burst from the trees closely followed by Iruka. "Naruto, listen to me! Everything Mizuki said was a lie! Give me the scroll before he gets it!"

However, the fake Naruto's only response was to turn and slam his fist into Iruka's stomach. The man gave a gasp as he fell from mid-air, crashing to the forest floor with a crunch.  
"Shit…" Iruka wiped his mouth as he snarled over at the other Naruto, a very uncharacteristic expression etched onto his face, "How did you know…?" There was a sudden burst of smoke, and then Mizuki was hunched over in the _sensei's_ place, "…that I wasn't Iruka?"

Smoke then consumed the second Naruto, "Because I'm Iruka."

Following this display, Shi and Naruto exchanged a glance. The former put a finger to her lips.

"I don't understand you!" Mizuki was saying, scrambling to his feet. "Why are you risking your life for the creature that murdered your parents?!"

"If you can't understand that, then I'm not going to bother," Iruka replied, his voice low. "I can't let a man like you have that scroll."

Mizuki scoffed. "You think Naruto is more noble than me? The power of that scroll is tantalizing, it can give the user whatever they want. The _Kyubi_ will use its power and destroy this village once and for all."

"You're right," Iruka admitted.

Beside her, Shi felt Naruto collapse against the tree.  
"So, it's all true," he looked up at her with heartbroken eyes, "See? Iruka-_sensei_ never really cared for me at all. I bet you don't either, huh, Shi-_chan_?"

Shi was stunned as she looked down at her friend. "But Naruto, you and I both know that you're not the_ Kyubi_…"

The boy jerked his head up, looking at her in shock just as Iruka echoed her words:

"If Naruto was the _Kyubi_, he would use the scroll in that way, but he's different. He's an exceptional student. He works very hard, even though he's clumsy and single-minded. He may be alone, but he knows the meaning of human suffering. He is not the _Kyubi_. He is Uzumaki Naruto of _Konohagakure_."

Shi smiled down at Naruto, putting her brown hand on his messy yellow head. "A _Kyubi_ could not have made me happy like Uzumaki Naruto can." She grinned down at him as Naruto stared up at her, messy tears pouring down his face.  
"Hey..." Shi started, but was cut off by the sound of Mizuki drawing his second _shuriken_.

"You are so gullible, Iruka. I was going to wait to dispose of you in your weakened state, but I've changed my mind." He spun the _shuriken_ in his hand until it became a blur, "Die!"

"Iruka-_sense_i!" Shi screamed, and her body lunged forward. Her feet hit the ground once, twice and then collided into Mizuki's chest with all the strength that her tiny body could muster.

The _chunin _gave a gasp of shock and pain as he was flung off his feet, the _shuriken _spinning from his grasp at the wrong angle and was sent hurtling through the trees, slicing through bark rather than flesh, and it careened out of sight into the darkness.

Mizuki flew back several feet, his body scraping the dirt ground painfully.  
He was coughing as he stumbled back up, but it took him only a moment to regain his composure as Shi dropped down between him and Iruka.

"You…meddlesome brat," Mizuki spat, "You're a foreigner. You don't belong here in this village!"

Shi bared her teeth in response. "This village is my home, and these people are my friends, and you're hurting them!"

"You think you're so tough?" Mizuki scoffed, "You caught me by surprise, but I can finish you off in one blow." He raised his fist threateningly, but faltered again when Naruto dropped down beside Shi, the scroll balanced against his leg.

"If you lay a finger on Shi-_chan_ or Iruka-_sensei_, I'll kill you," he declared brazenly.

"As if you could!" Mizuki snarled. "Stop making empty threats."

"I'll strike you a thousand-fold," Naruto declared, the change in his voice and posture evident as he placed both hands together: index and middle finger on each making a cross.

"Let's see you try!" Mizuki shouted. "Show me what you can do, _Kyubi_!"

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

The entire area was suddenly consumed in blinding white smoke like it had caught fire. Shi whipped around, slightly panicked, but then it cleared, and she could only look on in awe.

Naruto was all around her: there were dozens of him littering the clearing. An army of identical clones was surrounding Mizuki, standing ready for a fight and to shield Shi and Iruka and to drop down from the trees in a surprise attack all at once.

It was dizzying, and Shi felt her migraine rearing its ugly head again, but it was wonderful, and Shi opened her mouth to laugh.  
The most spectacular thing she'd ever seen. "Naruto!"

"W-What the-?" Mizuki whipped around wildly, panic setting in as he took in his enemy on all sides.

"What's the matter?! Aren't you going to attack me?" Naruto's voice boomed across the clearing from hundreds of mouths.

Mizuki cried out pitifully and fell to the ground, trembling in fear.

"In that case," Naruto's echo called out, "I'll come to you-_dattebayo_!"

Mizuki screamed, and Shi ducked down, rushing to Iruka's side as the Narutos pounced.

It was a flurry of movement and sound, and it was all a bit too stimulating as Shi threw what she could of her body on top of Iruka and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Shi…" Her teacher called down to her after a moment.

Glancing up, the young girl could see that he was smiling slightly.

Looking over her shoulder, Shi could see only a single Naruto standing in the middle of the clearing, the scroll at his feet, and a bloody and unconscious Mizuki lying beside it.

He was wearing the biggest of grins, rubbing the back of his head as he proudly surveyed his handiwork.

"Naruto!" Shi exclaimed as she leapt up and crossed the clearing in two strides, wrapping him up in her arms again. "That was amazing! How did you do that?!"

"That was the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_," Iruka called to them as he struggled to his feet. "It's a powerful ninjutsu, one of the techniques from the _Fuin no Sho_."

"Shi..." Naruto broke their hug as he held her at arm's length, gripping their shoulders. "Thank you."

The young girl gaped at him, knowing that there were many layers to just those two words, and it took a moment to unravel them all, but she grinned back at him after a moment.  
"You're welcome."

Naruto smiled sheepishly as he regarded their teacher. "I kinda got carried away. Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Their teacher sighed heavily before beckoning to his student. "Naruto, come here. There's something I'd like to give you."

"Eh?" Curious, the boy broke away from Shi and made his way over to his teacher. "What is it, _sensei_?"

"Close your eyes."

Reluctantly, the boy heeded his teacher's words.

Shi could barely contain a squeal of delight and excitement when she saw Iruka untie his headband and then gently re-tie it around Naruto's head.

"_Sensei_, can I open my eyes now?"

"Just a sec," Iruka finished tying the knot as he spoke. "Good. Now open them.

Naruto did so, and Shi quickly ran around the other side, so she can stand beside Iruka and see his reaction.

The boy simply stared for a moment, not seeming to understand, but his eyes then widened, a visible sign that he'd realized Iruka was missing his headband. His hand flew to his forehead where he felt the cold steel beneath his fingers, etched with the leaf-like symbol of _Konohagakure_.

"Congratulations, on your graduation," Iruka proclaimed.

Shi screamed gleefully, leaping up and down and flapping her arms. "Yes! Yes! Thank you, Iruka-_sensei_! Congratulations, Naruto." She then tackled her friend into the biggest bear hug her little body could muster.

Naruto still seemed too stunned to process everything that had just happened.

"In celebration, we'll have ramen tonight!" Iruka declared.

Shi jumped up and down, flapping her arms. "Horray!"

Naruto's bottom lip trembled as he regarded his teacher.

Iruka looked down at him, surprised at his lack of reaction.

Suddenly: "Iruka-_sensei_!" Naruto shrieked as he leapt into his teacher's arms, knocking him back against the tree as he embraced him with a sob.

"Ow that hurts!" Iruka grit his teeth, reminding them both of his injuries.

"Oh my God, we have to get you to a hospital!" Shi exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Iruka gave her a pained smile. "It's not too bad. I'll be fine."

"Then let's go get ramen!" Naruto cried, pumping his fist.

"But Naruto…" Shi then pointed over the trees where the first signs of sunrise could be seen peeking through the branches. "It's a bit early for that, isn't it?"

Naruto's face momentarily fell. "Eh?! But what about ramen for breakfast-_dattebayo_?!"

Shi made a face. "No. Too much ramen is bad for your cholesterol, Naruto!"

"Ah, Shi, you're no fun!" Naruto pouted, making a face. "What else am I supposed to eat?"

"Literally _anything_ else!"

Beside them, Iruka watched their bickering, a smile shining on his face, and he laughed at his two students, suddenly feeling more at ease than he'd felt in a long while.


	3. In the Shadow of Fire

Chapter 3: In the Shadow of Fire

* * *

"_Omago-sama_, hold on!" Shi called out breathlessly, hands scrambling as she tried to catch the tips of a waving blue scarf, but to no avail as its owner wiggled out of her reach. "Hey, come back here!"

"No! Leave me alone and stop calling me that!" the addressed yelled back in a shrill voice, scampering off down the hall. The owner of the voice was a young boy with messy brown hair that was spilling out of the top of a white helmet covered in stickers like a carrot top. He had wide, cheeky eyes and a gap in his teeth. He was also wearing a long scarf that dragged on the ground behind him.

Shi tried to make a grab for it again, but the boy once again slipped from her grasp as he rounded the corner. She followed him, but her face went white when she saw the boy bolt into the office at the end of the hall, throwing open the door with a loud 'bang'! "That's _Hokage-sama's_ office!_ Omago-sama_, wait!" Shi sprinted down the hall, but the boy had already run into the room by the time she reached the doorway.

"Old man! I challenge you!" The boy shrieked, producing a small plastic kunai and rushing at the _Hokage_, who had been calmly sitting at his desk prior to the child rushing into the room. "I will defeat you and become the _Godaime Hokage_!"

However, the little boy didn't get more than a step and a half before he tripped over his absurdly long scarf. Shi got to the doorway just in time to see the boy unceremoniously face plant onto the hard wooden floor in the middle of the room.

"_Omago-sama_!" Shi shrieked, scrambling over to him in a panic. Her hands hovered hesitantly over his whimpering form as he clutched his face, crying in pain.

"Shi." The Sandaime Hokage's voice drew her attention from helping the boy up. "I thought I told you to watch my grandson."

Shi smiled sheepishly. "I am," she replied, gesturing to the fact that the kid was clearly still in her line of sight.

Meanwhile, the young boy had sat up, rubbing his bruised forehead. "Something tripped me!"

"Yeah, your own scarf, dummy," Shi replied, flicking the side of his helmeted head. "It's a wonder why you always wear this thing. You're a hazard to yourself."

"Don't call me a dummy!" the _Hokage's _grandson protested shrilly.

The _Hokage _closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply.  
"Konohamaru," he addressed the young boy. "Is now really the time to be fooling around? Your lessons with Ebisu start soon, don't they?'

At that exact moment, a _tokubetsu jonin_ burst into the room, looking panicked. "_Sandaime_-sama, your grandson has failed to show up for-" The man then paused, noticing Konohamaru on the floor. "_Omago-sama_!" he exclaimed, dropping to his feet and shoving Shi out of the way so he could examine the boy's minor injury himself.

Shi felt back on her butt with a huff. _Speak of the devil_, she thought as she scowled at Konohamaru's teacher Ebisu.

It was then that Shi noticed whom the Hokage had been speaking to when his grandson had burst into his office. Naruto was sitting on a chair across from _Sandaime-sama's_ desk, passively watching the events in a quiet observance that was unnatural for him.  
"Hey, Naruto." Shi addressed her friend. "What are you doing here?"

Konohamaru noticed him too, and he immediately leapt to his feet. "You're the one that tripped me, aren't you?!" he cried, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Naruto snapped at this, grabbing the boy by the scruff of his scarf. "I didn't trip ya, ya twerp. Who the hell do you think you are-_ttebayo_?!

"Take your hands off him!" Ebisu cried. "That is the grandson of the honorable _Sandaime Hokage_."

Naruto looked confused for a moment, drinking this information in.

Shi expected him to let Konohamaru go upon learning he was a relation of someone he admired. However, she also should have known her friend better because instead, as Konohamaru brazenly taunted Naruto about not daring to hit him now that he knew the Hokage was his grandfather, the older kid punched him upside the head.

Ebisu shrieked. "You brute! How could you?!"

Once again, Shi rushed to Konohamaru's side as the kid fell flat on his face at Naruto's feet.  
"Come on, get up." She urged the younger boy, pulling him up by his boney shoulders.

"_Omago-sama_," Ebisu addressed the Hokage's grandson pointedly, "You shouldn't allow yourself to be pulled in fights with riffraff like that, even if he deserved it."

"As I recall, it was my grandson who started it," the Hokage remarked, lazily steepling his fingers and resting his chin on top of them.

"That shouldn't matter," Ebisu continued his tirade, "Konohamaru should know that boys like the Uzumaki brat are far beneath him, and he should never stoop down to their level. As his esteemed instructor, I feel it is my duty to…"

As he continued on, Shi tugged Naruto's sleeve pointedly, "Come on," she whispered before ushering both him and Konohamaru out of the room before Ebisu could notice.

* * *

Once they were outside the _Hokage's_ office building, Naruto rounded on his friend. "Why the hell are you hanging around with a brat like this, Shi-_chan_?"

"Now that it's summer, Hokage-sama pays me extra allowance to watch him in the mornings before his classes," Shi replied simply while Konohamaru crossed his arms with a huff.

"I don't need no stinkin' babysitter."

"More importantly, what were you doing in the_ Hokage's _office in the first place, Naruto?" Shi then inquired. "Were you in trouble for something?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to grumble. "The old man was yelling at me about my ninja ID photo. He said it wasn't 'appropriate'. What a load of bullshit."

Now Shi was curious. "What did the picture look like?"

Naruto then grinned proudly as he reached into the pocket of his jumper and produced a photo of himself. Shi stared at it in shock. Naruto had painted his face and hands chalk white and had scribbled bright red Uzumaki spirals all over his face and palms.  
"My only question is: why?" Shi finally said.

"Why?! Isn't it obvious? Because it looks cool!" Naruto exclaimed, waving the picture in front of her face.

Konohamaru jumped up to try and get a peek. "Lemme see! Lemme see!"

"You look like a _Kabuki _puppet master," Shi replied, unconvinced. "I understand why the Hokage didn't approve."

Naruto scoffed. "You all just lack vision-_dattebayo_."

Suddenly, a familiar shriek sounded from inside the office building.

"It looks like Ebisu noticed we snuck off," Shi observed.

"Then what are we hanging around here for?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I know! Let's disguise ourselves!" Konohamaru cried before pulling out a blanket that was meant to camouflage to the fence behind them. He pulled it over his entire body and stood in front of the wood, hoping it would conceal him to anyone walking past. However, he held the blanket the wrong way, so the wooden slacks painted on it were horizontal instead of the fence's vertical.

"Wow, you really do suck at stealth," Naruto observed.

"Hey!" Konohamaru yelled, "I'll beat you up!"

"_Omago-sama_!" Ebisu was drawing closer.

"Come on, let's go feed the chickens!" Shi yelled, before grabbing both boys' hands and running off into the direction of the wood at the base of the _Hokage Iwa_.

Naruto struggled to keep up as he was pulled along behind her. "The what?!"

* * *

"I don't understand why we have to help you feed the _Hokage's_ chickens, Shi," Naruto grumbled as he half-heartedly threw feed around at a group of hens all lazily pecking at the dirt by his feet.

"Well, it's one of my chores and since you're here and Konohamaru is playing hooky today, you might as well make yourselves useful," Shi explained as the younger boy chased a rooster around the coop, hurling feed at it.

"Eat the food, you stupid bird!"

"That's going to make it mad, Konohamaru!" Shi called to him.

"What a useless brat," Naruto chided under his breathe.

Shi snorted at him, "Come on, he's not that bad."

"He's a shit ninja," Naruto replied.

"Am not!" Konohamaru protested.

"You're trick with the blanket was utterly pathetic."

"As if you could do better?!" the younger boy jeered at Naruto. "Ebisu-_senpai_ says that you're just a useless nuisance in this village with no ninja skills!"

Naruto punched him in the head again, scattering the chickens in a flurry of feathers and nervous clucking.

"Naruto!" Shi protested.

"If I'm such a useless ninja, you little snot than how was I able to defeat the _Hokage_?!"

At this, Konohamaru froze. "You what?"

"Yeah, you heard me, I beat your grandfather," Naruto exclaimed, puffing out his chest with bravado, "And with my own technique too."

Shi stood between the two boys, clutching her bag of feed and trying to figure out what the hell her friend was talking about. "Naruto…"

"What technique?!" Konohamaru demanded, jumping up and down, "Show me! Show me! Show me!"

"It's called _Oiroke no Jutsu_!"

Shi paled, drooping the feed bag on the rooster's head causing it to squawk in fright. "Naruto! He's eight!"

Of course, now she knew what he was talking about. The time Naruto had tried to get out of a punishment and transformed into a naked lady in front of a scolding _Hokage_, who had proceeded to fall out of his chair in shock.

_I suppose that counts as some kind of defeat_, Shi mused. It had certainly caught the old man off guard.

"I wanna learn the _Oiroke no Jutsu_!" Konohamaru insisted, "Please teach me! Please! You can be my new _sensei_."

Naruto crossed his arms with a scowl, "Why would you want a new _sensei_ when you've got that professional pole-up-his-ass Ebisu to teach ya-_ttebayo_?!"

"Because you've actually got a technique to beat my grandfather, _Sensei_!" Konohamaru insisted, Please, teach me, _Sensei_! Please!"

Naruto's cheeks went slightly pink at the praise, falsely placed or otherwise.  
"Oh, alright. If you insist."

"Naruto!" Shi protested, "You're going to get me in trouble."

However, her friend didn't hear her because at that moment, a large white bird suddenly dove out of the chicken coop and attacked Konohamaru, pecking all over his helmet.

"Wah! Wah! It's trying to eat me!" the young boy shrieked, jumping around and flapping his arms.

"Careful! Careful!" Shi urged, stepping forward and quickly grabbing the bird gently in her hands, holding it away from Konohamaru. It flapped around in her grasp for a few seconds before eventually calming down. "I told you all your yelling and running around was going to anger them."

"What is that thing?" Naruto asked as he looked at the bird, "It's a real funny looking chicken."

"It's not a chicken, silly. It's a peacock," Shi explained.

"A peacock?" Konohamaru looked unconvinced, "I thought peacocks had lots of bright feathers. This one's white."

"That's because he's an albino," Shi explained as she set the bird down on the ramp leading into the chicken coop.

It ruffled its feathers, spreading them wide as it arched its delicate neck before striding down the ramp and going over to the pile of feed that the rooster was now half-heartedly pecking at.  
"His name is Kohaku," Shi explained, "I found him orphaned as a chick in the woods and adopted him. He lives here with the chickens now, and I take care of him."

"He's kind of a scary bird," Konohamaru whimpered, giving Kohaku a wide berth as the bird flicked its beady eyes towards him.

"Nah, you just startled him," Shi insisted, "I mean, I'm sure you wouldn't be very happy if some loud giant was stomping around your home throwing food everywhere."

Konohamaru pouted but then jumped back in fright as Kohaku squawked at him. "Nice birdie…"

"Enough of this fooling around," Naruto piped up, "If you want to learn the _Oiroke no Jutsu _than the training starts now."

At his words, the younger boy immediately snapped to attention. "Yes, sir, Naruto-_sensei_!"

Shi sighed. "This is getting out of control."

"Come on Shi-_chan_!" Naruto called to her as he marched out of the coop with Konohamaru close behind him, "You can be my co-_sensei_!"

* * *

"Now the first thing you need to learn, Konohamaru is how to control your catra!"

"_Chakra_," Shi corrected, sipping her lemonade as she lazily flipped through a comic book that was being sold at a nearby stand.

"Right, _chakra_! And that's the…um…"

"The natural energy found in a ninja's body used to perform jutsu!" Konohamaru piped up, excited. "I know that! I know that, Naruto-_sensei_!"

"Uh right, well do you want to know the most important thing for learning a new _jutsu_?" Naruto asked his 'student'.

"Yeah! I wanna know!"

"It's hard work and guts."

"That's two things," Shi corrected, tucking the comic book into the pocket of her shorts before the stand owner could notice and then chucking her almost empty take away cup of lemonade into the street. It broke on the dirt road with a satisfying crunch of plastic and spraying of pulp-water and ice chips.

"Shi-_chan_! Stop fooling around," Naruto called to her, his face very serious, "This is important. What kind of example are you setting for your student-_ttebayo_?!"

"Yeah, Shi-_chan. _Set a good example!" Konohamaru echoed.

Shi walked over and pulled Naruto's ear, "You're letting this go to your head."

"Ow!"

"_Sensei_!"

"I'm ok. Now, let's start learning the _jutsu_. First, show me a transformation, so I can see where you're at."

"Uh, okay…" Konohamaru looked around, "What should I turn into?"

"Umm," Naruto glanced around as well before spying a pretty brunette woman in a dark blue yukata examining the goods at a produce stand. "Hey, you can transform into her."

"No problem, Naruto-_sensei_!" Konohamaru exclaimed eagerly before putting his fingers together to make a T and a puff of smoke suddenly consumed his body.

When it cleared, the woman by the fruit stand's twin was not standing before Naruto and Shi. Instead, Konohamaru had turned himself in a huge, lumpy, fat woman with a chunky face, scruff on her chin and hug lips. The only thing remotely similar were the brown hair and blue yukata.

"How do I look?!" Konohamaru asked.

Shi and Naruto recoiled. "Um…It sort of looks like her?" the latter offered encouragingly, but it was the wrong time to say it as the brunette woman had noticed their antics and stalked up behind him.

"That looks nothing like me!" she shrieked, socking Naruto upside the head.

Shi supposed it was karma for punching Konohamaru earlier as she dove to avoid the woman's wrath. Speaking of which, the lady did not lash out at Konohamaru at all despite the fact he was the one that had created that grotesque image of her. Instead, she simply lightly chastised the '_omago-sama_' before going on her way, leaving Naruto groaning on the ground in a heap of twitching limbs.

"Are you okay?" Shi asked him, helping him up.

"Why did she hit me and not him?!" her friend snarled, infuriated.

* * *

"Hmm, we're never going to get anywhere at this rate," Naruto mused aloud as he strolled along with Konohamaru following close behind, hanging on to his every word.

Shi walked a few paces behind them, reading her shoplifted comic.

"What we need to do is educate you on female beauty," Naruto declared, "But the question is: how do we do that?" He then looked behind them and saw Shi trailing behind the with her nose buried in the comic book. "That's it!"

Shi made a startled noise when her friend yanked the comic out of her hand. "I know the perfect thing to teach Konohamaru! Come on!" He then took off down the street with the younger boy close behind them.

Shi stood in the middle of the road, blinking before realizing what had just happened. "Hey! Give me back my comic book! I stole it first!" she yelled, chasing after them.

She followed the two boys to a dingy comic shop that Shi recognized as one that she and Naruto frequented quite often. The owner was lazy and was often sleeping, drunk or both, so they could usually hang around reading whatever they wanted for hours on end and then make away with any comics they wanted to keep free of charge without getting caught.

Per usual, as Naruto slid open the rickety screen door, the shop owner was leaning back in his high stool behind the counter, loudly snoring away.

The three kids cautiously tip toed past him and went over to the magazine section of the shop. There was a collection of erotic magazines lined up on the top shelf with a big red 18 and a line through it plastered in front of them.

Of course, this didn't stop Naruto from hosting Shi on his shoulders and her grabbing a handful of the magazines to then hand over to the boys, snatching her own comic back in the process.

"You owe me ramen, you perverted sneak" she snapped before burying her face back into the stolen pages. It was a really good issue. She finished it after a few minutes, however, and quickly tucked another one off the shelf into the back pocket of her shorts.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Konohamaru were pouring over page after page of scantily clad women in various skimpy bikinis and lingerie sets, blushing and giggling the whole time.

However, their revelry seemed to be enough to awaken the drowsy shop owner, and he stalked over to the trio and brandished a mop threateningly in their direction.  
"Children! This is not a library!"

It was honestly a far tamer reaction to a bunch of underage children shoplifting comics and looking at pornographic material, but he then chased the three out of his shop as they all scattered in a flurry of laminated papers.

The three kids burst out of the back door of the shop and ran towards the woods with the owner hot on their tales still swinging his mop around like a katana.

"Shi-_chan_, do something-_dattebayo_!" Naruto yelled as the now rather energetic man managed to smack him upside the head several times, seeming to concentrate entirely on the older boy even though Konohamaru was clearly slower and easier to catch.

"Alright, fine, but you'll owe me two bowls of ramen now!" Shi called back, reaching the tree line before the other two did. She paused beside one of the big oaks lining the perimeter, and placing her hand upon the rough bark, she closed her eyes and worked on matching her _chakra _with the natural energy inside the tree.

After a moment, a branch swung out seemingly at random directly over Naruto and Konohamaru's heads. It smacked the comic store owner right in the face, and he fell flat on his back.

"Come on!" Shi called to the two boys as they ran into the forest towards her. She put her fingers together and they air around her was suddenly electric with chakra. She then grabbed both their hands just as her dreadlocks lifted off the back of her head as though pulled by invisible strings. They grew in length and whipped around wildly before latching onto the branches of a larger tree several feet away. As soon as they went taut, they pulled Shi backwards towards the branch, dragging the two boys along.

They both cried out in alarm as they were yanked up into the branches. Shi landed about as neatly as she ever had when trying this trick on the branch, her dreadlocks unraveling and as Naruto and Konohamaru were pulled up beside her in a much less graceful fashion.  
"You boys okay?"

"Wow, how did you do that?!" Konohamaru was impressed, while Naruto, who had seen Shi's _Kabari Satsu Jutsu_ before was preoccupied with rubbing the rather large lumps forming on his head from where the shopkeeper's broom had found its mark.

"Ow…Why did he only hit me?!"

"Sorry…" Konohamaru murmured, hanging his head.

"Huh, why are you apologizing?" Naruto demanded, starting to climb down from the tree.

Shi followed suit as her dreadlocks retracted back to their normal length. As soon as she dropped down, she turned around and held up her arms from Konohamaru to jump into them.

He landed on her head instead and there were several seconds that followed of yelling, frantic scrambling and flailing limbs.

"You didn't answer my question," Naruto prompted Konohamaru once he and Shi had sorted themselves.

The young boy scowled, looking down at his shoes. "It's because I'm the _Hokage's _grandson. That's why all the villagers are so nice to me, even when I do bad things, but I can tell they're faking it."

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto shrugged, rubbing at the large purple bruise that was now blossoming on his forehead like a large poppy flower. "Well it's no big deal."

"Here. Let me see that," Shi called to him, going over to inspect the bruise more closely. After a moment, she reached into her pack and pulled out some cream and pressed a coated cloth to the affected spot.

"I'm fine, Shi," Naruto shook her off, "Now that Konohamaru has learned what he needs to know about women, he can now perfect the _Oiroke no Jutsu_!" He then flashed the boy a thumbs up.

He looked confused. "I can?"

"Sure-_dattebayo_!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning, "It just takes practice, remember?"

"Practice! Right, Naruto-_sensei_!"

"Alright, let's see you try again. Transform!"

"Ok!" Konohamaru then assumed the transformation stance and changed form in a puff of smoke. However, the same lumpy, fat-faced girl took his place.

"No, no, no!" Naruto chided, "You've got to make her skinnier!"

"Skinnier, you got it, Naruto-sensei!" Konohamaru tried again.

"No! Curvier!"

"Okay! Transform!"

Shi sighed. This was not how she would have anticipated spending her afternoon. However, maybe the_ Hokage_ would pay her extra for watching his grandson while he was kidnapped spirted away from his daily lessons.

As Naruto chided the younger boy on making his transformation's cheeks too 'pudgy', Shi walked over to a tree at the edge of the clearing they were standing in and sat down against the bark. She pulled a lollipop out of her pack and popped it between her lips as she opened one of her pilfered comics and flipped it open. Occasionally, her eyes flicked up to the two boys as their enthusiastic yelling and popping sounds of transformation _jutsus_ echoed across the clearing.

Above her, the branches of the trees ruffled in the breeze, their leaves crinkling.

Shi looked up at them. "I know right."

* * *

After a while, it seemed Naruto and Konohamaru grew tired of their 'training exercises." So, all three kids wandered off to where there was a campsite area that Shi and Naruto frequented because there was an outdoor vending machine.

Using some pocket change, Naruto bought them all cold drinks and they sat on a log, relaxing in the shade of another large oak.

As they sipped their drinks, Naruto finally broke the silence: "Hey, so why were you attacking your grandfather earlier? What did he do to make you so mad?"

Konohamaru's small hands tightened their grip his soda can as he gritted his teeth, "My grandfather was the one that named me Konohamaru…after the village, but nobody calls me that. Everyone calls me _'omago-sama'_. It's like they don't even see me; they just see the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage. I'm invisible."

Shi looked at him, surprised. Even though she'd spent most summer mornings with Konohamaru since the kid was in diapers, she hadn't realized that he had been feeling this way. She'd just assumed he was being like any other dumb kid and acting out at his elders for the fun of it. Clearly, there was more to it.  
_I guess I just wasn't paying enough attention_, Shi thought as she sipped her drink, suddenly feeling a heavy guilt settle in the pit of her stomach.

"That's the reason why I have to defeat my grandfather and become the _Hokage _as soon as possible," Konohamaru continued, "So people will know who _I_ am."

Shi nearly choked on her drink, his words snapping her from her own thoughts. She glanced at Naruto, searching his face for a reaction since the sentiment was very similar to one he held himself.

She knew that her friend had wanted to become_ Hokage _since they were old enough to want anything at all, and it was for the exact same reason: so the people of the village would finally see him as an individual to be liked, to be praised, to be admired.

As Shi watched him, Naruto scoffed. "Get real, you think the village will accept a scrawny kid like you to be _Hokage_? A person can't just turn into a _Kage _after a day or two."

"Hey!" Konohamaru leapt to his feet, offended.

"You keep saying that you want to become the _Hokage_, but you don't really know what that word means. If you become the leader of this village, do you know what you'll have to do?" Naruto asked him.

"What?!"

An intense grin then slid across Naruto's face. "You're going to have to beat me in battle!"

"Hold on a minute!" Shi jumped between them at this. "I've tolerated today's shenanigans, but I can't justify letting you beat on the kid, Naruto. He's supposed to be under my supervision."

"I didn't say I was gonna beat him up, Shi-_chan_!" The boy insisted. "I'm just telling him what he's in for if he truly wants to be Hokage. It takes hard work and dedication-_ttebayo_."

"Just like learning a _jutsu_?" Konohamaru piped up.

Before either of the older kids could answer, a voice sounded from within the treetops.  
"I've found you!"

The three kids all whirled around to see Ebisu crouched amongst the branches directly over their heads.

The _jonin _teacher's gaze lingered on Naruto the longest, and it was filled with contempt.

"_Omago-sama_!" he then called to Konohamaru, jumping down from the tree, "It's time to go home."

"No way! I'm learning how to beat my grandfather, so I can get the title of _Hokage_. Don't get in my way!"

Ebisu smiled widely, but Shi could tell it was forced. "A _Hokage_ is more than just a fighter. He must know virtue, honor, wisdom, and he must be skilled in a thousand jutsu. You don't even know one."

"Yes, I do!" Konohamaru yelled in defiance, "Transform!" There was a familiar puff of smoke and as it cleared, Ebisu's face went very, very red as a beautiful brunette woman was now standing in the young boy's place.

The jonin stood rooted to the spot, unable to move or speak until Konohamaru had reverted back.  
"Did I beat him?!"

"W-What kind of scandalous _jutsu _is that?!" the _jonin _thundered, his face still crimson, "Such tasteless vulgarity could never influence me! I'm far above it!" He then stalked over to the boy and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

Konohamaru shrieked and twisted in his grip, trying to get away. However, Ebisu gripped his long scarf and pulled him back.

"Hey, put him down! You're hurting him!" Shi ran over to him, but Ebisu slapped her aside.

"You brat! You're a bad influence on the _Omago-sama_! You and that Naruto are turning him into a delinquent. I'm the one that he should be listening to. My skills and training are what can put him on the fast track to becoming Hokage. Do you hear me, Konohamaru?!"

Suddenly, Naruto's voice rag out through the clearing, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

He was then duplicated several dozen times, and the shadow clones soon surrounded them.

However, Ebisu scoffed as he pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "I'm not impressed. I'm a _jonin,_ after all. I'm not some lightweight like that Mizuki. A real _shinobi_ can easily beat an upstart like you."

With confidence, he started towards the crowd of Naruto clones. However, a long black tendril suddenly coiled around his ankle and yanked hard. He was thoroughly tripped up and fell flat on his face in the grass.

Konohamaru burst out laughing, and Shi sniggered as her other dreadlocks waved through the air teasingly as her fingers locked together.  
"_Kabari Satsu no Jutsu_."

Ebisu righted himself after a moment and rounded on her, his face smeared in dirt and grass stains as well as a bit of blood from a split lip. "You matted brat!" He snarled, "I'll get you for that!"

"Hey!" Naruto and his clones called to him, "You're fight is with me, remember?" They then all assumed the stance. "Transform!"

A huge cloud of white smoke erupted all around them, covering the entire clearing. However, it soon cleared and then the dozens of now transformed Naruto clones could be seen in all their naked lady sexy_ jutsu_ glory.

"Ebisu-_sama_!" They giggled as they all rushed the _jonin_ at once and threw themselves at him, wrapping their slim arms around his biceps and pressing their full chests to his torso.

The _tokubetsu jonin_ let out a shriek and fell flat on his back in a dead faint, more blood now covering his face, this time from a heavy nosebleed.

"Amazing, Naruto-_sensei_!" Konohamaru applauded.

Shi smirked, shaking her head as Naruto changed back to normal and all of his clones vanishes.  
"You combined the _Kage Bushin no Jutsu_ with your _Oiroke no Jutsu_, huh?" I should have figured you'd devised a trick like that."

"Yep! I call it the _Harem no Jutsu-dattebayo_!" Her friend exclaimed, pumping his fist in triumph, "And look at that! I beat a _chunin_ and a _jonin_ in one week! I'll be _Hokage_ in no time!"

Shi laughed, "Great, once you're _Hokage_, you can buy me all the ramen I want!"

Naruto groaned, "Shi-_chan_! You're spoiling my victory."

"No fair!" Behind them, Konohamaru shouted in frustration, stamping his foot. "I can't even beat that snobby trainer of mine. I want to be _Hokage_ so bad, but I keep messing up. Why can't I do it?!"

Naruto looked at him blankly. "You really think it's that easy?"

"Huh?"

"Haven't you been paying attention? To be a_ Hokage _you have to be the greatest in the whole village. You have to prove yourself, so everyone believes in you. Look at me! I've been through a lot already. I've been ignored and pushed away by everyone, but I eventually found people wo believed in me."

Shi smiled at this, knowing he was talking about her and Iruka-_sensei_.

"So, if you want to be _Hokage_," Naruto continued, "You have to make sure you're ready."

"For what?" Konohamaru asked.

"For lots of sweat…and tears…hard work and hardship. That's what it takes to become a great ninja."

"Hardships?"

"Yeah, because there's no easy way to become _Hokage_," Naruto declared. The trees echoed his proclamation, rustling in the breeze with crinkling noses that sounded like applause.

Shi smiled up at them.

"Who do you think you are?!" Konohamaru suddenly cried, snapping Shi out of her reverie, "Giving me a lecture like that?! You're not my teacher, not anymore." The young boy's anger quickly evaporated though, and his face broke into a wide grin, "From now on, we're rivals you and I, Naruto."

Naruto grinned back, "Yeah, I can't be your instructor anyways. Shi-_chan_ and I start our advanced ninja training tomorrow. However, one day, when we've both trained and mastered a lot of _jutsu_, we'll fight for the title of _Hokage_. How does that sound, Konohamaru?"

The boy saluted in response. "Yes, sir!"

Shi laughed at the gesture as Naruto waved lazily in response and turned to walk back off into the trees in the direction of village.

"Konohamaru," Shi walked over to the boy and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, startled. She smiled at him, "I believe in you, okay. I want you to know that."

The younger boy stared at her for a moment before he smiled again, wide enough to show one of his missing teeth, "Really?! Thanks, Shi-_chan_."

"You're welcome, and hey, Naruto still owes me two bowls of ramen. One of those can be yours, if you want."

"It can?!"

"Sure. Hey, Naruto. We're going to Ichiraku, and you're treating tonight!"

"But Shi-_chan_!" her friend whirled around to protest as Shi and Konohamaru followed him back towards the village.

"Ah ah ah! No buts! You owe me, remember?"

"You drive a hard bargain."

"I'll shoplift a damn comic book for you the next time we go to that store. It can even be one of those dumb naked ones if you want."

"Ooh can I have a naked one?!"

"No, you're eight."

"No fair, Shi-_chan_!"

"Oh gods, you really are turning in a mini-Naruto. Now, shouldn't we do something with Ebisu before we go back to the village? It is getting dark…"

* * *

Night had fallen, and Shi should be asleep soon since she did start her_ genin_ training the following day. However, here she was: trekking up the mountain side behind _Sandaime-sama_ with the _Hokage Iwa_ looming ahead of them, illuminated by the moon.

"You best make it quick, Shi. The night is not getting any younger," The_ Hokage_ remarked to her as they continued to climb the steep pathway.

"I will, sir," the young girl replied.

As the trees thinned out around them, a strange shape came into view, masked by the shadows of the _Hokage_ faces carved into the stone above them.

As the two drew closer, the shape soon became clearer and was revealed to be an old house. It was built into the side of the cliff, almost growing out of the stone like a plant. The wood that twisted around the structure to form its walls and foundation were unnatural shapes like some unforeseen force had crafted the structure with a deep and mysterious power.

The trees that grew here whispered mysterious things.

There was an air of hesitation in the _Hokage's_ normally sound stride as he approached the strange house. Despite remaining in good condition, it held an air about it of not having been lived in for several decades. There was almost a reverence in his demeanor, something that seemed to capture him every time he and Shi visited this place.

The young girl remembered the first time he'd taken her here when she had been six:

_"__It belonged to your mother."_

_"__She was named Shi too, right?"_

_"__Yes, Sarutobi Shi. You were named after her."_

_"__She has the same last name as you, Hokage-sama."_

_"__Indeed, your mother was adopted into my clan when she came to the village a long time ago. She herself was named after a powerful warrior that helped to found Konohagakure."_

_"__There was another Shi before my mother?!"_

_"__Yes, the first Shi lived in the age of the founders. She died defending the Shodai Hokage. Then there was your mother and now there's you."_

_"__She died too…right?"_

_"__Yes, when you were a baby, but she left you this house. It contains all of her possessions and knowledge, including all of her jutsus."_

_"__My mother had jutsus?!"_

_"__Yes, and she left them behind so you could learn them yourself. The secrets to the techniques are stored in this house."_

_"__I want to learn my mother's jutsus, Hokage-sama!"_

_"__And you shall, my dear."_

Now the _Hokage_ produced a small green key from the pocket of his robes and unlocked the door to the house. "Go on then," he called to Shi.

Quickly, the young girl headed inside the house. It was dark and musty inside, the air thick with dust.

Shi quickly lit a candle and made her way across a sparse living area and over to a large trunk that stood open in the middle of the room. The _Hokage _had dragged it up from the cellar the first time he had brought Shi to the old house. In and around the storage unit were dozens of worn journals that were held together by leather covers and tied with strings. Pages from them were scattered across the floor. Shi approached the trunk carefully, not wanting the candle's flame to catch on any of the old, yellow pages.

Tentatively setting the wax stick into a holder, she crouched down and gathered up a few of the papers, tucking them into the leather-bound pages using the dim light as a guide. Once she had collected all that she needed, Shi picked up her candle and blew it out before running back to the doorway where the _Hokage _was waiting, clutching her collection of pages against her chest.

"I've got it. You can lock the door now."

The_ Hokage _smiled down at her, the wrinkles in his face deepening. "Actually, I think you should do it." He then handed the green key to her, "As a matter of fact, I believe its time I gave you this key to keep."

Shi gawked, looking between the _Hokage_ and the key he was holding out to her. "Really?! You mean it?"

"Yes, I think you're old enough now."

"Thank you, sir!" Shi exclaimed, taking the key from him and quickly turning to lock the door. After that was done, she reached under her shirt and pulled out a chain that was around her neck. Hanging from the chain was a single ring that was a deep purple glinting in the moonlight. Shi slipped the key onto the chain beside the ring and let them both then rest against her chest until she returned to her house where she could find a proper place for the key.

"Let us get going, Shi. You have a big day tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. I do!" Shi agreed, flapping her arms enthusiastically as she skipped down the mountain ahead of him, almost seeming to fly, as they headed back to the village. As she ran, the key and the ring on their chain bounced against her chest. The ring caught the moonlight again, and it almost seemed to glow faintly.


	4. Team 7

A/N: Thank you so much to the first followers, favers and reviewers! I always respond to reviews before each chapter, so let's start with that!

* * *

From: themelancholiasettles

Q: i dig this so faryou're doing great

A: Thank you so much! I'm so glad ;)

From: B Boppolop p

Q: I already really like this story! Your writing style is so good and easy to follow along with, your grammar and spelling are impeccable, and I love how you write the words in romaji. I guess the only thing I would say I don't like as much is that you put all of those romaji words in italics, but it's not bothersome at all, just personal preference.

I'm just starting this, so please do expect to hear more from me

A: Thank you so, so much. I edited these chapters so many times, so I'm glad they look good. Uh, yes, I am a weeb and I did watch Naruto subbed so it's what I'm used to. Sorry about the italics, it's a grammar technicality that you italicize any singular words that are not in the language you're otherwise writing in. Thanks for the reviews on all three chapters!

Q: Oh, this chapter was so cute! The way you write is so pleasant to read! And the length of the chapters are perfect, too. I have a lot of questions about the OC and such, but I figure they'll be answered in future chapters so I won't say anything quite yet, but so far I like her! She's pretty quirky, like flailing and flapping her arms around, and her mother's story is interesting though so far confusing. I'm definitely looking forward to that being expanded upon later.

A: I'm glad you think so! And it's good you have questions! About both Shi and her mother, and yes her mother's story is meant to be kinda confusing but there is a twist with it that will (hopefully) make it less confusing. I'm glad you're looking forward to it being expanded on cuz it will be!

Q: This was another sweet chapter! The dynamics between the three was really cute and fun, and of course Ebisu in the beginning was an ass, so he was here too. I hope you'll expand more on the Jutsu that Shi used and on her two namesakes. And maybe even her father, since he's another mystery. If Shi (mom) was adopted from Takigakure (or was it somewhere else? Sorry I'm sleepy) why was she named after Shi of Konohagakure? Did she receive the name after coming to Konoha? Anyways, I'm really looking forward to your next update! I'm already enjoying this one!

A: Thanks! And yes Ebisu is such an ass. I didn't like him until the Pain arc lol then he was cool. And yes I will! All three 'Shis' will get development and yes Sarutobi Shi was adopted from Takigakure and she did receive the name after coming to Konoha, the previous Shi had just died so it was a homage to her. Thank you so much again for your review ;D

* * *

A/N: With that, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 4: Team 7

* * *

Shi awoke the following morning before the sun had even risen, but this time it was not because of a migraine. Instead, it was simply due to the excitement she felt because today was her first official day as a_ genin shinobi_.

Since she was up so early, she took longer than usual to get ready. Normally, Shi just grabbed whatever clothes looked and smelled clean enough off the floor of her room and that became her outfit for the day. However, today was a special occasion, and she had painstakingly planned out what she would wear the night before. It was even laid out on her desk chair, so none of her carefully chosen garments got any wrinkles.

The outfit she'd decided on consisted of a pair of deep blue shorts, a black cropped hoodie that she'd cut the sleeves off of, and a blue and green kimono that had a peacock pattern printed across it. There were also her usual blue shinobi sandals and her shiny new _genin hitai-ate _which was carefully placed on top of the other attire.

After getting dressed, Shi stood in front of the mirror and made a series of hand signs. Instantly, the stray hairs growing around the base of her dreadlocks tightened into place. A process that normally took hours manually reduced to a couple seconds thanks to one of the _jutsus_ she'd learned from her mother's journals.

Now that she was dressed, Shi went about gathering up her gear into her packs and strapping them to her belt and thigh, making sure to wrap bandages around her leg before hooking on the latter to prevent chaffing.

Since she wasn't in a hurry, she remembered to take her medication and pack a second dose, so she wouldn't get any migraines during the day.

Now that she had all her things gathered, Shi glanced at the clock and saw that she was still way ahead of schedule. Naruto probably wouldn't even be awake yet for her to cook him breakfast. To past the time then, Shi did a bit of tidying up around her apartment, something she hadn't done in a while.

She actually threw her dirty clothes into the hamper instead of just leaving them on the ground, swept the floor, dusted the shelves and refilled her bird feeder.

As she was organizing her desk, a bluebird landed on top of it and started pecking at the fresh seeds. Shi smiled fondly at it before turning her attention back to her mother's journals, which she'd left spread out across her desk when she went to bed very late the night before.

Carefully, Shi gathered up the papers into a neat stack, placed them back inside the leather cover with the pages that were still tied to the binding. She then put the now complete journal in the drawer of her bedside table along with the key to the old house, tucking them both neatly inside the drawer and shutting it securely.

As she did so, her eyes fell on the picture of her mom that was resting against her alarm clock. Tenderly, Shi picked it up and touched the aged photograph, a small, sad smile finding its way to her face.

It was then that she noticed that something crucial was missing from her carefully selected outfit as she spied her mother's ring on its chain hanging from a small hook beside the window. Slightly frantic that she almost forgot it, Shi snatched it off the wall, but paused before putting it on, letting the object linger between her fingers.

There hadn't been a body when Sarutobi Shi had died; according to eyewitnesses, she had just crumbled to dust. Therefore, Shi hardly saw any purpose in visiting her grave; it was just a formality: a stone marker above an empty coffin. Because of this fact, Shi found a lot of solace in the things her mother had left behind in that old, twisted house almost growing out of the cliff side like an old tree. The books that contained her _jutsu_-written down in case something happened to her-the now-faded photo that rested beside Shi's bedside, and the ring that the young girl always wore on a chain around her neck.

As she turned it around so that the rising sun hit it, the faint flicker of blue sparkled across the red-purple surface. Shi smiled faintly; out of all of her mother's possessions, this was the one she had the most affinity for.

After a moment, Shi finally slipped the chain over her neck and tucked the ring under the collar of her hoodie. Checking her clock again, she surmised that Naruto would probably be up by now so, she turned and climbed up onto her windowsill. Below her was the broad expanse of one of Konoha's busier streets, which was just starting to come to life in these early hours.

With practiced precision, Shi climbed out onto the fire escape and was about to make her way down the steps towards Naruto's apartment when a flicker of blue in the corner of her eye and a familiar cooing noise caught her attention.

Turning around, Shi came face to face with a large blue peacock that was sitting on the edge of railing looking at her with dark, intelligent eyes.

The young girl's face lit up in instant recognition, her teal eyes bright in her dark face. "Kannon! I haven't seen you for a while."

The addressed bird chirped in delight, inclining its head to the side. Shi recognized the gesture and reached out to scratch under the bird's beak. He almost seemed to purr in pleasure like a cat.

Shi had known this bird for a few years; as a matter of fact, he'd first shown up not long after Shi had rescued her albino peacock Kohaku following a massive hurricane. The young _kunoichi _suspected this older bird was a relation of Kohaku in some way, perhaps even his father, and he appeared every so often to check up on the chick and to show Shi his appreciation, often bringing her pretty stones or pieces of clear quartz that he most likely found along the riverbed near the legendary places peacocks are known to reside.

"Hey, buddy. Have you come to wish me good luck on my first day as a _genin_?" Shi asked quietly as she continued to scratch the bird's small, soft head.

Kannon cooed again before folding his large, majestic tail over slightly, revealing to Shi that a couple of the long, slender feathers had come loose.

"Are-Are these for me?" Shi exclaimed as she took in the beautiful blue-green plumes with the large purple spots at the end that gleamed like all-seeing eyes.

The bird inclined its head again, almost like a nod.

"Thank you!" Shi exclaimed as she gently pulled the feathers free from the rest of the tail. "I'm sure these will bring good luck!" she added formally, not wishing to offend the elegant bird.

Kannon spreads it large blue wings in a majestic crest that the sunlight accented effectively, flapping them slowly as though agreeing to her proclamation. After a moment, he took off and zipped over the multi-colored roofs of Konoha, finally carving a wide arc in the air above the _Hokage Iwa_.

Shi smiled wistfully after it before remembering herself, quickly hurried down the stairs of the fire escape and climbed through the window into Naruto's apartment on the floor below, twisting the peacock feathers into her half-up ponytail as she went.

Naruto was still sound asleep when Shi entered his apartment which was to be expected.  
"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Shi cried, scooping a pillow off the floor and pitching it at the snoozing boy's head.

Naruto shrieked and jumped awake in a flailing pile of limbs. He sat up and looked around blearily, rubbing his eyes. There was still a bit of drool on his mouth, and the grey walrus Christmas hat he always wore to bed was knocked askew.

"Morning, Naruto. It's time to get up!" Shi exclaimed, rushing over and pulling the boy out from under his covers. "Today is our first day as _genin_, remember?! We're getting our team assignments today!"

Naruto looked at her like he couldn't quite remember her name for a few long seconds before finally blinking the remaining sleep from eyes, which quickly lit up in matched excitement.  
"Oh crap! That's right! I've got to get ready-_dattebayo_!" Naruto exclaimed, pushing Shi aside and scrambled around his room.

He wasn't nearly as organized as Shi, so it took him a good few minutes to gather up all of his clothing and gear and rush into the bathroom to get dressed and brush his teeth.

While that happened, Shi went to the kitchenette in the corner across from his bed and started looking through the cabinets and fridge for anything that could be used for a good breakfast.

Naruto's apartment was the same layout as Shi's: a studio style with a kitchenette against one wall and a bed on the other beside the large window. There was a bathroom off the sleeping area beside the desk and a table and chairs in the middle of the room. Naruto's apartment was also just as messy as Shi's, but the refrigerator wasn't nearly as well stocked.

Unlike her, Naruto didn't cook his own meals unless they were the instant kind or prepared in a microwave.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Shi inquired of her friend, pulling what poor-pickings she could from the fridge as her friend stumbled back out of the bathroom, struggling to put on his sandals.

"Ramen! Ramen!" the boy replied eagerly, sitting down at the table.

"No. You had ramen last night for dinner. There are a few vegetables here. I'll make you a soup and some fish with a bit of white rice."

Naruto pouted at the typical, 'boring' breakfast, but knew better than to turn up his nose at something his friend was preparing for him out of the goodness of her heart. He knew that Shi didn't have to cook him his meals every so often and did so because she was worried about his health.

"Ok then," he finally relented, getting up as Shi started chopping vegetables for the soup and grabbing a half empty carton of milk from the fridge.

"It's a good thing I decided on the soup today too, these veggies are getting old," Shi was saying as Naruto pulled open the carboard opening of the milk and was about to drink straight from it.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" The milk never touched his lips as Shi looked over and suddenly snatched the carton right out from under Naruto's nose.

"Hey! What did you do that for, Shi-_chan_?! I was drinking that."

"Did you even look at the expiration date on this thing?!" Shi cried, pointing to the small set of numbers printed on the side of the milk carton. "This went bad two weeks ago! If you drank it now, you could get really sick!"

Naruto stared at her, blinking rapidly. "What's an expiration date?"

Shi groaned in frustration before tossing the milk carton in the trash and turning back to the cutting board. "Just go sit down. Your breakfast will be ready soon."

Naruto grinned at her as he returned to the table. "Man, what would I do without you, Shi-_chan_?"

"You'd have starved to death or poisoned yourself."

* * *

Haruno Sakura awoke to a beautiful morning full of sunshine and birdsong. She was instantly put into a good mood by the pleasant weather, humming to herself as she put on her adorable brand-new outfit that her mother had made for her. It consisted of a short red dress with white trim which matched her clan's white ring-like emblem on the back as well as a pair of dark blue shorts that would be good for running in and (of course) also matched her shinobi sandals and genin h_itai-ate_.

The latter of which she tied in her long pink hair after spending quite a while brushing it. Sakura was very proud of her hair and always spent a significant time taking care of it in the morning.

As this lengthier part of her routine was complete, Sakura tied her forehead protector into her hair like a headband, pulling back her bangs so that it exposed her admittedly large forehead.

Once this was complete, Sakura smiled at her reflection, satisfied that her appearance was now deemed 'cute enough'. She winked at herself, striking a little pose.

"Sakura!" her mother called from downstairs, "Isn't it time for you to get going?!"

"I know! I'm on my way out now!" her daughter snapped back, annoyed she'd been interupted. _Cha! How long is she going to treat me like a kid?!_ She thought to herself as she headed downstairs and out the door, _I'm a ninja now!_

Honestly, this was a pretty daunting prospect. Sakura pondered this fact as she walked the familiar streets towards the _Konoha Academy_; this was a route she'd taken every day for years, and today was her last time.

_Haruno Sakura, kunoichi-in-training..._

The young girl's musings were interupted when she passed_ Konoha's_ most famous flower shop. As she walked up to the small, cozy building with dozens of beautiful blooms gathered in neat little pots littering the entrance, a blonde girl about her age strolled out with one last farewell to her mother.

Almost instantly, the two girls' eyes met, and their expressions turned more severe as they stared one another down in the middle of the street.

After a moment, the blond girl smiled.  
"Good morning, Sakura."

Sakura smirked back, wanting to look unperturbed.  
"Good morning, Ino."

This other girl was Sakura's classmate, or former classmate rather, Yamanaka Ino. Sakura had once heard through the grape vine that Ino had been deemed the prettiest girl in the class, and meanwhile, she sat at a measly second place.

Of course, it made sense. Ino had always been elegant and fashionable with her high platinum ponytail and matching purple two-piece outfit. She was also the first girl in their class to get boobs.

Sakura, meanwhile, was still flat as a board and would probably never grow into her large forehead, but that didn't mean her blood didn't still get hot at the prospect of taking Ino's top spot: surpassing her in skill and popularity.

Clenching her fists, Sakura moved to continue on down the street, but Ino immediately fell into step right beside her.  
"So, they actually let _you_ graduate? What a surprise."

Sakura scoffed, recognizing the other girl was trying to bait her. "Those classes are ancient history. We're _ninja_ now, and we're both equal." She then fixed Ino with a harsh glare, "I won't lose to you anymore." With that, Sakura quickened her pace, walking ahead of her rival.

However, Ino immediately sped up as well and then moved faster until she was walking ahead of Sakura.

So, Sakura moved quicker again, trying to keep her speed at a racewalk at best in the hopes that it wouldn't look like she'd need to run to move faster than Ino.

The other girl did the same, bumping her shoulder as she went. Sakura moved up beside her once again, and the two _kunoichi_ were soon power walking up the street bumping into one another's shoulders and hips in an attempt to shove the other girl unsuspectingly into a fence or a dumpster. The friction between them was almost enough to spark electricity, and their once familiar walk to school zipped by them on their last day.

* * *

In what felt like no time at all, Sakura and Ino were squeezing through the partially opened door to their classroom, neither one pausing to open it any further as that would give one girl a chance to push ahead of the other. After a lot of grunting and squirming, they finally shoved their way into the classroom.

"I'm first!" the both yelled in unison, spreading their arms wide before nearly collapsing, breathing heavily.

"Ha! I beat you again, Sakura," Ino announced between heavy pants.

"In your dreams, I was obviously first," Sakura wheezed.

"Have you always been this delusional?! My toe was clearly a tenth of an inch ahead of you!"

"I had to look back to see you, it clearly wasn't!" Sakura was about to continue her retaliation when she glanced over Ino's shoulder.

That moron Uzumaki Naruto was gawking at her with that same dumb look on his face that he always wore.

_Why is he even here?! I thought he failed the graduation exam!_

It didn't matter since he was sitting beside someone far more important.

Since everyone had graduated, the new _genin_ were all scattered throughout the room, no longer abiding by their assigned seats. The only one still in their normal spot was Uchiha Sasuke: the one by the window in the third row from the back on the left-hand side facing the door at the top of the stairs.

Sakura knew it by heart, which also leapt into her throat as she raced down the steps and shoved Naruto out of the seat beside Sasuke.  
"Um…Sasuke-_kun_?" she whispered meekly, trying to keep her eyes downcast and her hands clasped in as cute a pose as she could muster, "Is it alright if I sit by you?"

Ino was right behind her down the stairs, of course. "Back off, Forehead! I'm sitting next to Sasuke," she asserted before the gorgeous boy before them could grace her with an answer.

"I was here first!" Sakura shot back.

"I walked into the classroom before you did!"

"No, you didn't! Everyone saw that I was here first!"

"Actually, I got into class before either of you!" another girl strolled over to them just as too more approached from the top of the class.

"So, did I, so I'm sitting next to Sasuke."

"No, I am!"

"Hey, guys! I found a frog in the courtyard!" Kujaku Shi cried out as she burst into the classroom, holding the aforementioned slimy amphibian in both her fists.

As she rushed over to them, the other girls all shrieked.

"Eek! Get it away!"

"So gross!"

"Why did you bring that in the classroom?!"

Their shrill cries startled the poor creature, and it wiggled out of Shi's grasp and bounded onto the desks in a mad dash to escape. This only increased the collective panic.

"Ew! Oh my God, it's on my desk!"

"Don't let it touch my bag!"

"Kill it! Kill it!"

Some of the girls started trying to hit the frog with their bags while a few others pulled out their shiny new _kunai_.

The frog jumped frantically around the classroom, dodging purses and freshly sharpened blades.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Shi begged, leaping over chairs and tables as she scrambled to catch the frightened animal before it was squished or skewered.

She raced across the desks, nearly tripping several times before she finally tripped on the edge of one desk and flung herself forward, arms outstretched. She landed hard on her stomach, nearly hitting her chin on the hard wood, but managed to keep her grasp firm, and the frog was now recaptured between her fingers.

In fact, Shi was not a second too soon as the terrified amphibian was about to leap onto Sasuke's head. The boy hadn't moved, however; he remained in the exact same position: hunched over with his hands folded in front of his face, completely apathetic to the chaos going on around him.

As Shi breathed a sigh of relief, the Uchiha boy's eyes flicked towards her.  
"Uh…Sorry, Sasuke," Shi apologized with a sheepish smile, slowly sitting up and carefully climbing over his desk with the frog still firmly in hand. Sasuke didn't move, and his gaze returned to the front of the classroom, expression still entirely unreadable.

"How could you?!" one of the other girl's cried.

"That frog almost landed in Sasuke's beautiful hair!"

"You could have given him a disease!"

"What were you thinking bring that thing in here; you're going to get us all sick!" Ino added.

"He wasn't hurting anybody," Shi insisted, holding out the frog who let out a feeble ribbit.

"You almost gave Sasuke warts, you birdbrain!" Sakura shrieked, jumping up and down in disgust. "Frogs are so gross!"

"I think warts would be an improvement, if you ask me!" Naruto declared, peeking out from the desk he'd crawled under to escape the assault on the frog.

Sakura scowled at him. "Nobody asked you, loser."

Naruto ignored her as he climbed up on the desk and got in Sasuke's face, staring him down intensely, obviously trying to intimidate him. Sasuke glanced up and gave him a harsher but still rather bored-looking glare. He obviously didn't see this other boy as a threat.

Shi rolled her eyes as she turned and leaned out the window, gently placing the frog in a patch of damp grass. "There you go, little guy. Sorry about that."

The thing expanded its vocal sac with a throaty grunt, almost like an admission of forgiveness before it leisurely hopped off into the bushes and vanished from view.

"Naruto! Don't glare at Sasuke!" Sakura was saying as Shi pulled her head back inside.

"What's the big deal with this guy?!" Naruto exclaimed, "You're all obsessed with him! Sasuke this and Sasuke that. Shi's the only girl in this class with any sense. She's not going crazy about him all the time!"

"That's because Shi's too immature to like boys!" one girl piped up.

"No boy would like her either, she's so dirty all the time," another added.

"Hey!" Shi protested, feeling her face grow hot.

Naruto, meanwhile, was still glaring at Sasuke with a kind of seething rage that seemed to almost radiate off his body like steam.

Shi knew that Naruto and Sasuke had never really gotten along. They'd been at each other's throats since they were all little kids. Of course, Naruto had every right to be envious of the other boy; he was handsome and popular and got high marks, so everyone liked him, even if he was often withdrawn and hardly ever interacted with anyone else in their grade. It was easy to see that Naruto was jealous.

For his part, Sasuke was glaring right back, obviously annoyed at being bothered.

"Let him have it, Sasuke!" Sakura yelled out.

"Yeah! Beat him up!" another girl added.

"He doesn't have any right to say things like that about you!"

"Give him what he deserves!"

"You're the best Sasuke!"

A boy in the row in front of them suddenly jumped up to greet his friend that had just entered the classroom, obliviously bumping Naruto from behind as he did so.  
"Oh sorry.." he called in passing, but the room had fallen deathly silent.

"What the…?" Sakura's face was as white as a ghost.

Shi looked on; her eyes as big as dinner plates. The unsuspecting male classmate had shoved Naruto right into Sasuke's face, and the two boys had unintentionally locked lips in a position that looked very much like a kiss.

All of the girls screamed like the room was on fire as Naruto and Sasuke broke apart, each gagging and wiping their mouths, thoroughly disgusted.

For her part, Shi burst out laughing.  
"Oh my God! Bahahaha! When's the wedding, you too?!" she jeered, slapping her knee.

"Shut up, Shi-_chan_!" Naruto snarled at her between exaggerated gags.

"I'll get you for that, Naruto…" Sasuke choked out, gripping his throat.

"Naruto…" Sakura snarled, cracking her knuckles as the boy whirled around to face a sea of infuriated preteen girls. "You're dead!"

"W-Wait! Hang on, it was an accident!" Naruto screamed as the girls all lunged at him. The boy was thankfully used to dodging people he pissed off and bounded across the desks like a fox escaping a pack of bloodhounds. "Shi-_chan_, window!" Naruto yelled right as his friend opened the classroom window all the way, and he threw himself out and landed face first in the flower garden.

Shi roared with laughter once more as she watched her friend thrash around in the daisy patch.

"Naruto, get back inside!" Iruka called, having entered the room just in time to see his most wayward student dive out the window, "Everyone else, please take your seats."

Reluctantly, the students all filed themselves into the most convenient chair.

Shi found herself beside Sakura, who had managed to snag the much-coveted spot next to Sasuke. He seemed entirely unenthused by this turn of events. After a bit of a struggle climbing back into the classroom, Naruto took the empty chair on the other side of her; he looked a little battered and bruised, which made sense as he'd just dove headfirst out the window.

"My students," Iruka addressed the class, "As of today, you are all officially _shinobi_. To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships, but that is nothing compared to what lies ahead. Right now, you are all _genin_, first level _ninja_. You shall each be grouped into squads that will be led by a high-ranked _jonin_ instructor. Most of you will be grouped into squads of three, but due to an odd number of students, one _genin _squad will have four people."

A murmur momentarily rippled throughout the classroom. Everyone knew that _ninja _squads with four members were decidedly unlucky.

"You've all been group based on your skills and abilities," Iruka continued.

From the seat behind her, Ino leaned down and whispered to Sakura, "Well, someone's gotta be in Sasuke's squad. I wonder who that will be…" Her smirk was telling.

"I don't know," Sakura replied pointedly, turning to glare at Ino. Her expression read: _Cha! I'm going to be with Sasuke, so stay away from him, you dumb pig!_

Shi glanced over at Naruto to see he was looking at Sakura longingly. She sighed.

_Good grief._

As his best/only friend, Shi knew that Naruto had a crush on Sakura for years now and now was probably hoping that he ended up on a team with her. That would be a dream come true.

Shi obviously hoped that she might make into onto a team with Naruto, but she knew that it potentially couldn't happen. She glanced around the room, trying to think of other people she would like to be paired up with.

_Shikamaru would be a good teammate to have; he's really smart, but he's also really lazy. He might not want to do any actual missions. Kiba's fun too, and he has a puppy! I guess Hyuga Hinata would be harmless…Although, she seems afraid of her own shadow._

Shi glanced up at the latter girl, who was staring down at Naruto with her pale, glass-like eyes.

_Weirdo._

"I will now announce the squads," Iruka declared and began to read off names. Shi didn't hear anyone important, so she went back to her musings:

_Aburame Shino…His clan uses bugs. Hell no, I hate bugs. I guess Choji would be kind of annoying too. I like to cook but not_ that _much._ She then looked over at Sasuke sitting one away from her. _I wonder what having Sasuke on my team would be like…probably more trouble than it's worth. I don't feel like having all the girls in the class mad at me…even more than normal, that is._

"Team 10 is Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino."

"What?!" Ino's protestations were shrill.

"Look at that, it seems you're on my squad instead of Sasuke's," Shikamaru mused from beside her, "And you were so confidant before."

"Shut up, you lazy dolt!" Ino shot back.

"I don't even get what you see in that guy. He's nothing special."

Ino scoffed. "Jealousy is not an attractive quality."

"No, it isn't Ino-_chan_," Sakura called to her mockingly, "So you shouldn't be jealous of me when I end up on Sasuke's squad instead of you!"

"As if that'll happen, Billboard-brow!"

Iruka ignored the outbursts and continued reading names.

"Team 8 is Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba."

Every time a team was announced, there was a spattering of reactions throughout the classrooms.

"Who's Shino?" one person whispered to another.

Shi grimaced. _I hope Kiba is okay with being in a group with a couple of weirdos. His poor puppy!_

"Team 7 is Haruno Sakura…"

Sakura stopped fighting with Ino immediately.

"Kujaku Shi."

"Eh?!" the two girls exchanged a glance.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"YES!" Sakura shook the room with her triumphant yell as she leapt out of her seat. "Cha! True love conquerors all!" she proclaimed, whirling around to flash Ino a smug smirk and a victory sign.

Ino snarled with rage. "How did you get on a team with Sasuke and not me?!"

"I told you I was better suited! Not to mention, Shi isn't interested in Sasuke, so there's no one to get in my way!"

"And this is the squad that will have four members," Iruka was saying, "So the last teammate is Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Nooo!" Sakura groaned, slumping down in her seat.

Behind her, Ino roared with laughter. "Ha! Guess it really is the unlucky team, after all!"

Now it was Shi's turn to jump up, "Really?! Naruto, did you hear that?! We're on a team together!"

"Yes! Shi-_chan_, we'll be the best-_dattebayo_!" Naruto exclaimed, leaping up, grabbing her hand, and throwing both their arms up in a triumphant fist bump, "And on a team with Sakura-_chan _too! Wait, but also…" Naruto's excitement immediately evaporated, and his face went crimson with rage. "Hey! Iruka-_sensei_! Why am I on a team with Sasuke?! I'm a great _ninja_, and he's not! He's going to cramp my style-_ttebayo_!"

Iruka frowned. "Naruto, Sasuke had the best scores out of the entire graduating class. You, in turn, had the worst scores. In order to create a balanced group, we put the worst student with the best student."

The class burst out laughing as Naruto turned even redder.

"Just don't get in my way, loser," Sasuke murmured.

"What did you say?!" Naruto rounded on him, fuming.

"Hard of hearing?"

The class laughed harder.

Shi felt herself getting kind of hot under the collar as well. _The worst student with the best student, huh? I know that Sakura is the smartest girl in the class. She's not as good at ninjutsu, which is the only reason why Sasuke is ahead of her, but she always got perfect scores on all the written tests._  
Shi banged her head on the table. _I guess I'm the slouch as far as the girls are concerned._

Iruka continued to read out the remaining groups, but those who had already been assigned were not paying attention in the slightest.

* * *

After all of the teams were assigned, Iruka dismissed them for lunch, informing them that once the period was over, they would all met their assigned_ jonin_ instructors.

This left the atmosphere surrounding the new _genin_ squads very anxious as they all filed out into the courtyard.

"Sakura!" Shi chased after the pink-haired girl; her _bento_ box clutched tightly in her fist. It weighed a little heavier than normal as she'd packed a batch of cookies that she'd prepared for her new _genin _teammates.

"Huh?" Sakura whirled around, seemingly distracted.

"Do you want to eat lunch together? I figured you, me, Naruto and Sasuke could all eat together since we're going to be a team now, you know?"

Sakura looked away. "No thanks. Hey, Sasuke-_kun_! Do you want to eat lunch together!" she called, running off as she spotted the rather illusive boy roaming the edge of the courtyard.

Shi was left bewildered, "But…"

"Hey! Sakura-_chan_! Want to eat together?" Naruto appeared practically out of nowhere.

"Get out of my way!" Sakura shoved him aside, annoyed.

"Hey…wait! Weren't we all going to eat together as a group…?" He trailed off as his new supposed teammate ran off, ignoring him completely.

Dejected, he slouched over to Shi. "This sucks! We're on the same team as Sakura-_chan_, but she still treats me like dogshit stuck to the bottom of her sandal."

Shi just patted the top of his head while fishing around in her _bento_ box. "Cookie?"

* * *

It soon became obvious that Sasuke had wandered away from Sakura and seemed to have left the school grounds entirely.

Shi was still dead set on her team having their first lunch together, so she decided the best thing to do was to track down Sasuke before Sakura did. If she could get him to agree to eating with her than Sakura would most likely join by proxy and then it would be easier to squeeze Naruto into the mix.

Of course, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't stand each other…and Sakura didn't want to be within ten feet of Naruto and didn't really seem like her all that much either.

Shi stopped in the middle of the path. _What the hell am I getting myself into?!_

At that moment, she finally spotted Sasuke walking along the pathway a few yards ahead of her, all casual-like with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey! Sasuke!" Shi called, running over to him. "Do you want to eat lunch with the rest of the team. I have cookies!" She paused, "Oh wait…You don't really like sugary-foods, do you?"

Sasuke, meanwhile, looked to have jumped about a foot in the air when Shi first called out to him. He whirled around and stammered, "N-No, thanks! I'm busy, very busy. See you, later, Shi-_chan_!"

He then turned and sprinted off down the path before Shi even had a chance to respond. She stood there, blinking rapidly while trying to make sense of that most un-Sasuke-like reaction.  
"Shi-_chan_?!"

She froze. Her eyes then shifted over to the nearby apartment complex where she knew Sasuke lived, and it clicked for her. "Oh…That's not Sasuke."

* * *

It was easy enough getting into Sasuke's apartment since the window had been left open. The place was clean and well-kept and probably normally neat as a pin, but the signs of a struggle were everywhere.

Especially the very obvious evidence of Sasuke lying bound and gagged in the middle of the floor.  
"Oh God…I was right. I hate when I'm right," Shi cringed as she scrambled through the window and hurried over to her. So, Naruto really had used the _Henge no Jutsu_ he'd recently finally mastered to impersonate Sasuke, probably to trick Sakura.

Upon seeing Shi, Sasuke immediately started wriggling around more, attempting to free himself as he snarled probably pretty nasty things at her, muffled by the tape over his mouth.

Shi sighed heavily as she knelt down next to him. "Sasuke, if I let you go. Will you promise not to kill him?"

The look he gave her was not at all reassuring.

However, Shi knew she didn't really have a choice in the matter, so she quickly untied the rope binding Sasuke's arms.

He jumped up immediately, ripping the tape from his mouth.

"I won't kill him," he then declared, "I'm just going to beat the shit out of that _usuratonkachi_."

Without another word, he jumped out the window and took off.

Shi was left kneeling on the floor. She screamed at the ceiling in frustration.  
"Gods! Do I have tie you all up in my hair and shake you until you JUST GET ALONG DAMNIT?!"

Shi was angry and upset, but she knew she couldn't stay in Sasuke's apartment. After a moment, she climbed out the window, her heavy _bento_ box bumping her knee.

She glanced down at it and opened the lid. Most of the cookies were broken due to all her running around. Even Naruto had rejected one, and he usually never turned down her cooking, but he was too upset about Sakura.

Shi felt her eyes start to prickle and wiped at them furiously as she dumped the cookies onto the pavement where they shattered into a pile of dirty crumbs.

* * *

The lunch break was almost over, so Shi supposed she should head back to school. This day was already going pretty badly. Just her luck, she was caught in the middle of this dumb love triangle. Things had already escalated so much, and it was only the first day!

_The unlucky team, huh…_

Shi usually didn't believe much in bad luck or superstition. Her name was written with the character for 'death', and that was probably the unluckiest thing in the world. Some of her earliest memories were the nurses that took care of her in her infant and toddler years pitying her being saddled with such an 'unfortunate' name, not aware of its ulterior significance. Unlucky or not, Shi had done just fine.

"Maybe this bad luck is actually going to come true this time," Shi murmured dejectedly as she walked back along the same path towards the _Ninja Academy_.

She then looked up and noticed Sasuke and Sakura were standing beside a nearby bench, talking to one another

Shi froze in the middle of the path, unsure of what to do.

Should she hide? Awkwardly brush past them and try to act like she didn't know them? What were they even talking about?

"I personally can't stand that Naruto," Sakura was saying, "He's so annoying, always bothering me and picking fights with you. You know why he's like that? He wasn't raised right, since he didn't have any parents. He doesn't know right from wrong, so he just does whatever. If my parents saw me acting like that, I'd be in big trouble. He's so selfish because he's always been alone."

Shi's _bento_ box fell from her hand with a clatter.  
_How can Sakura say such mean things about Naruto behind his back like that?!_

Shi's fists clenched, her chakra flaring. _Well, there's at least one person I'm going to tie up in my hair and shake around, _she declared, stalking towards Sakura. Neither she nor Sasuke seemed to have noticed her.

However, before Shi could retaliate on Naruto's behalf, Sasuke spoke up, "You don't know what it's like to be truly alone; it's not about your parents scolding you. You could never understand that kind of isolation."

Sakura looked taken aback by the intensity in his voice, "Why…Why are you saying that?"

"Because you're annoying," Sasuke replied before he strode off, leaving Sakura lingering beside the bench looking utterly crushed.

Shi strolled over to her; her anger somewhat alleviated. "That was just about the worst thing you could have said. You do realize Sasuke doesn't have any parents either, right?'

Sakura's eyes welled up with tears, "I…I completely forgot. Oh God, I've ruined everything! Now Sasuke-_kun_ will hate me forever!" she wailed, covering her eyes with her hands and bawling.

"You shouldn't have said those nasty things about Naruto," Shi mused, "There's a thing called _karma_, you know. The Wheel of _Samsara_ is always turning," Shi spun her finger through the air, mimicking an invisible wheel, "If you put something bad out into the world, the wheel picks it up and it keeps turning, so eventually, that bad thing comes right back around to you."

Sakura glanced up at through teary eyes. "Sasuke-_kun_ said I was annoying."

Shi smiled, trying to be reassuring, "I'm sure if you just apologize to Sasuke, he'd forgive you."

"I…I guess this is how Naruto must feel, with everyone thinking he's such a pain all the time," Sakura continued. "I-The next time I see him, I should try to be nicer, huh?"

"Definitely," Shi agreed, "And hey, if you're nicer to Naruto and put that good _karma _out there, maybe it would reward you, and Sasuke might not think you're so annoying anymore."

Sakura dropped her gaze, "I guess, but he still wouldn't see me as anything more than some annoying little girl, would he? I guess I can't blame him. I'm so small and skinny; the only thing big about me is my forehead."

Shi held her hand up to her brow and then to Sakura. "Well, the forehead thing is true, I'm still shorter than you by a few centimeters, so it's not completely hopeless."

Sakura suddenly looked up, her eyes wide and hopeful once again. "Wait, Shi! You-Do you think you could help me with Sasuke?!"

Shi looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"You understand these things better than me!"

"'These' things?"

"Boys, I mean! All of your friends are boys, even that Naruto, and you're basically a boy yourself. You have all of this secret knowledge, right?"

Shi just stared at her, completely at a loss for words.

"You will help me, won't you, Shi-_chan_?" Sakura asked, smiling sweetly as she clasped Shi's hand, "We're teammates now, right? And that's what friends do for each other!"

Shi gaped at her, "Friends? We're friends?"

"Of course we are!"

Shi felt oddly warm in the pit of her stomach. She had never had a friend that was a girl before…

"Um…Ok. I guess I can help with Sasuke. Um, what do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Oh, we can work out the details later," Sakura replied dismissively as she threw her arm over her shoulder, "Now come on, bestie, lunch is almost over. Speaking of which, I didn't get to try one of your cookies earlier, and they looked delicious."

"I actually threw them out the window of Sasuke's apartment a little while ago."

"Why were _you_ in Sasuke's apartment?!"

"Don't worry about it."

* * *

Now that lunch was over, everyone filed back into the classroom to meet their new_ jonin_-level instructors.

Once the kids arrived, some of their new _sensei_ were already waiting in the room; many of them looked very powerful and some were even recognizable.

Shi immediately spotted Sarutobi Asuma, who was a big, barrel-chested man with spikey black hair and beard. He was the son of the _Hokage_, so she'd met him a few times before, especially when she was running around after his nephew Konohamaru.

He was assigned to Team 10 with Ino, Shikamaru and Choji, and said trio followed him out of the room, trailing along after his cigarette smoke.

Team 8 with Kiba, Shino, and Hinata was assigned to a pretty dark-haired woman named Kurenai. She seemed gentle and almost motherly. It was hard to believe she was such a high-ranked shinobi, especially with the countenance she displayed as she filed her new _genin _students out of the room.

Pretty soon, all of the other squads had met their _jonin_ leaders and left the classroom for their first meetings as a proper _shinobi_ team.

All except the unlucky Team 7.

As the minutes dragged on with the four kids sitting in a now empty room, Naruto began to grow antsy. He eventually planted himself in the doorway like a dog on sentry duty, intensely scanning the hall for any sign of their_ jonin_ instructor.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had resumed his hunched, hands-folded-in-front-of-his-mouth position, Sakura was leaning against a desk, trying to look casual, and Shi was sitting on it, absentmindedly playing with the ring around her neck.

"Naruto," Sakura chided him, "Just sit down!"

"I don't want to! How come our teacher's the only one that's late? I wanna get started-_dattebayo_! The other groups already met their new_ sensei_ and took off on some adventure or something!"

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Sakura interupted, noticing the boy had grabbed an eraser from the blackboard and was now standing on a stool, carefully wedging it between the doorframe and the partially open door.

Naruto giggled.

"You're asking for trouble."

"Hey, it's what he gets for being late," Shi piped up.

"Shi! Don't encourage him."

"Oh, you're full of shit, Sakura. You know this is going to be hilarious."

"Our teacher is a _jonin_," Sasuke reminded his teammates, "Do you honestly think he'd fall for something like that?"

"Yeah, Sasuke's right! You're so clueless, Naruto!"

At that moment, the door slid open, and a person in a green and black_ Konoha_-issued uniform stepped into a classroom. Instantly, the eraser fell on his head with a puff of chalky dust.

The four kids in the classroom all froze as the eraser fell on the floor with a dull thud.

After a second, Naruto burst out laughing. "Haha! I totally got him! Did you see that!"

Shi joined him, "I can't believe that worked!"

Sakura was bright red as she clasped her hands apologetically. "I'm so sorry, sensei. I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen!"

Inwardly, however, she was struggling not to laugh. _Cha! Perfect shot!_

Sasuke was not amused.

The _jonin_, meanwhile, stooped to pick up the fallen eraser and stepped into the room fully. He was a tall, lanky young man with a noticeable slouch. Nearly all of his body was covered. There was the usual dark pants and high collared long-sleeve shirt with the red Uzumaki spiral patch. As well as the green Konoha vest with its many pockets and he had all the gear strapped to his waist and hips, the black _shinobi_ sandals, but also a black face mask that went from his chest, up his neck and all the way to the bridge of his nose. His black _hitai-ate_ had been pulled down over his left eye like an eyepatch. Above this, his hair was silver and swooped to one side in a series of messy yet somewhat elegant spikes.

"Hmm, my first impression of this group," the _jonin_ mused as he gripped his chin and surveyed them through his single, dark visible eye, "You're all idiots."

That wasn't a good start.

Naruto started raging at this declaration. Sakura kept apologizing for the eraser trick, Sasuke was even more not amused than before. Meanwhile, Shi remained sitting cross-legged on the desk, staring at the _jonin _before them.

There was strangely something kinda familiar about this guy.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to assume that the kids all at least know that Sasuke's family was killed even if they didn't know why since it's hard to hide several hundred people being murdered, even if just from a bunch of dumb kids. Anyways, this chapter was really fun. I hope you enjoyed. Please tell me what you think!


	5. The Trial of Bells

A/N: Thanks to the new followers and favers

From: themelancholiasettles  
Q:ohh I wonder why he seems familiar to her?

A: no spoilers ;)

* * *

Chapter 4: The Trial of Bells

* * *

As Shi looked at their new _jonin _instructor, she was suddenly hit hard by an intense wave of pain that buried itself deep into her skull.

The sudden migraine made her buckle forward, gripping her head as she ground her teeth, trying to hold back a groan of pain.

"Shi-_chan_!" Naruto rushed over to her while Sasuke and Sakura looked on in confusion. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," Shi forced out, weakly fumbling for her pack. "Can you get my medication out?"

Naruto nodded and earnestly began searching through her things for the aforementioned pills, Sakura helped as well. Vaguely, Shi caught a glimpse of the masked_ jonin_ looking at her with his single visible eye; he looked tired, like he hadn't slept much.

After another moment, Shi took her bag back from the other two and finally pulled out her medication. She swallowed two pills dry, much to the astonishment of Sakura.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Often enough," Shi replied with a shrug.

"Are you alright now?" The _jonin_ then asked her.

Shi looked at him, feeling the lingering sting of her headache. She couldn't figure out what was bothering her so much about this person. However, she tried to force the lingering sense of _déjà vu _to the back of her mind, lest the give herself another migraine.

Their _jonin_ instructor then told his fledgling _shinobi _to follow him, and they were led onto the roof of the school.

The four kids sat huddled together on the steps of the small garden that had been built on a raised platform, which the students had tended to regularly throughout the year.

Their teacher sat across from them, slumped over on the railing.  
"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time?"

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura looked confused. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies." The _jonin_ waved his hand dismissively, "Those sorts of things…"

"Well, why don't you introduce yourself first then?" Naruto offered, "So we see how it's supposed to work?"

"That's a good idea," Shi agreed, "I mean, you're going to be our _jonin-sensei_, and we don't even know your name yet."

"Me?" Their _sensei _looked a little taken aback, "Well, I'm Hatake Kakashi. There are many things that I like and many things that I hate. Hmm…I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future…I've never really thought about it. As for my hobbies: I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless," Sakura grumbled to the other three, "All he really told us was his name."

"The man is covering three quarters of his face, Sakura. He's obviously the very secretive type," Shi remarked.

"Ok, your turn. You on the right," Kakashi interjected, pointing to Naruto. "You first."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto-_dattebayo_! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like _Ramen Ichiraku's _ramen, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the ramen in the cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. Oh, I also like eating the ramen that Shi-_chan_ cooks for me. She always tries different flavors and asks me how they are. My dream is to be the greatest _Hokage-dattebayo_! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm someone important!"

Kakashi didn't really have a response to Naruto's proclamation, "Alright, next." He gestured at Sakura.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like-uh…I mean, the _person_ that I like is…." She giggled and blushed, trailing off as she looked knowingly at Sasuke, who was hunched over with his chin resting on his hands, not looking at her or anything else. "My hobby is…uh…" Sakura giggled, trailing off again as she now seemed too distracted. "My dream for the future is-!" She then squeeed into her hands, clearly imagining herself married to Sasuke.

Shi looked at their teacher, "_Sensei_, I think she's having a stroke."

Kakashi rolled his eye, "And what do you hate?"

Sakura stopped her fangirling and declared bluntly: "Naruto!"

At this, Naruto shrieked in terror, going very pale.

"Sakura!" Shi grabbed her, shaking her rather roughly," Remember what we talked about?! The karma!"

Sakura blanched at the memory, "Uh…I didn't mean Naruto specifically. I don't hate him-necessarily-I hate annoying people. Right, Sasuke-_kun_?"

"Hmph."

Shi looked at him. "Wow, a quasi-verbal response."

"What about you then?" Kakashi asked her.

Shi jumped, unprepared in her response. "Huh? Uh…Hi, everyone. My name is Kujaku Shi. Hmmm…Well, I like comic books and cooking and sharp objects that you can throw at people and drinks with lots of sugar in them like coffee or smoothies or energy drinks. I dislike when people pull my hair and ask if it's made of rope. My hobbies include shoplifting-I mean shopping-Yeah, shopping and cooking and eating the food I cook, and I raise some peacocks. I like birds too. As for my dreams for the future, I suppose I just want to become a great ninja. That's what I've always wanted."

"Hmm." Kakashi then turned to Sasuke, "Alright, last one."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particuliraily like anything."

Sakura recoiled, shocked.

"What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality: I am going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone."

Shi looked away, trying to hide her expression. Naruto looked freaked out, and Sakura looked turned on.

Kakashi's expression was obviously unreadable. "Good. You are each unique, and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto clapped gleefully, "What's our first mission going to be-_ttebayo_?!"

"It's a task that the four of us will do together?"

"What is it?" Naruto pressed.

"Yeah, are you going to tell us what it is?" Shi inquired.

"It's a survival exercise."

"A what?" Naruto looked incredibly confused.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice!" Sakura exclaimed. "We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got here."

"This is not like you're previous training," Kakashi asserted.

Shi cocked her head to the side. "Then what kind of training is it then?"

At this, Kakashi laughed.

"That's a normal question! What's so funny?" Sakura demanded.

Kakashi just shrugged, still chuckling. "If I tell you the answer, you won't like it." There was a pause, and then he continued when no one protested: "Of the thirty-one students in your graduating class, only ten will be accepted as _genin_. The remaining twenty-one will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a 'make it or break it' pass/fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is over fifty percent."

The four kids all stared at him in utter shock.

Kakashi just snickered. "I said you weren't going to like the answer."

"That's crazy!" Naruto blurted, "We worked hard to get here-_dattebayo_! What was that stupid graduation exam for then?!"

"He's got a point," Shi agreed, crossing her arms, "I figured the tests would be done now."

"The tests are never over, Shi, even long after you become a _genin _or even a _jonin _like myself. As for the graduation exam, it was simply a means of selecting candidates who _could_ become _genin_. That's how it is. I decide if you pass our fail."

Naruto and Shi looked at each other in complete disbelief. All that hard work to get where they were currently sitting and none of it apparently mattered. Shi wanted to hit someone, but the only one close enough was Sasuke and that would be suicidal on two fronts.

"Now then, you four shall be at the designated testing location at 5am and bring your ninja gear."

Naruto grit his teeth, determination radiating from his entire body. Beside him, Sakura was showing equal if not greater resolve; she clearly didn't want to be separated from Sasuke. Meanwhile, he was clenching his fists so hard they were shaking.

Shi looked at her four teammates and felt her heart sink; she had worked hard to become a _genin_, even if her test scores hadn't always reflected it. She was still good at _ninjutsu_ and _fuinjutsu_, and even though none of them ate her cookies, she did like the other members of Team 7 and didn't want their relationship to end so soon after it began. So, like the other three, Shi decided at that moment that she must pass the test tomorrow no matter what.

Kakashi then turned from them. "That's it, you're dismissed," he called with a flippant wave, "Oh, and tomorrow, you better skip breakfast or else, you'll puke."

This really shook the four young _shinobi_ up and left them with a lot to think about that night.

* * *

The following morning, Shi awoke before the sun and went about getting dressed in a kind of daze. She took her medication, packed two extra doses this time and threw on her ninja uniform. She attached her pack to her hip, not bothering to include any of the _kunai_ or other weapons in her house. They were mostly decorative, and she didn't need them anyways.

She then brushed her teeth to get rid of that morning taste before setting off towards the place in the forest that Kakashi_-sensei_ had told them to meet.

The air was eerie as she trooped through the woods; there was still mist and dew lingering in the air, giving the atmosphere a tense, chilly feeling that made goosebumps bloom on her exposed legs.

The birds were just beginning to wake up and sing their morning songs when Shi arrived in the clearing at almost the exact same time her teammates did.

Naruto trailed out of the trees, yawning loudly so his 'good morning' was barely coherent. Sakura weakly greeted them the same way, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Sasuke appeared to be the only one wide awake. Shi wondered if he'd slept at all.

"Hi guys," Shi was fishing around her in her pack as she approached her teammates, "Anyone want a rice ball? I made them last night and kept them in my fridge."

"Hey! I want one!" Naruto quickly jumped at the opportunity, snatching one of the wrapped balls from Shi's bento box.

"Naruto! Are you crazy?!" Sakura was horrified, "Kakashi-_sensei_ told us not to eat anything before the test. Do you want to vomit all over the place?! You'll probably fail if you do!"

Naruto looked conflicted for a moment, but the horror of such a prospect soon won out and he gave the rice ball back to Shi, mumbling an apology.

"Why would you even bring food with you anyways?" Sakura continued.

Shi faltered. "I just thought you guys might get hungry."

"Well, I'm not going to eat any, and I'm sure Sasuke isn't going to either. Right, Sasuke-_kun_?"

No response.

"Fine then," Shi grumbled, shoving the _bento_ box pack into her pack, muttering about rule followers and teachers' pets.

The only thing the four kids could do after that was wait. They did so in silence, watching the sun climb higher and higher into the sky and listening to the trilling of the birds and the hum of the cicadas. Shi had a long time to drink in their surroundings; the trees lining the clearing were dense and heavily shadowed, they could conceal next to anything. In the center of the clearing, there was a single tree, a sturdy, old one. A creek trickled through one side of the grassy plain and there was large monument made of black stone in the shadow of the far side of the open space.

After a few hours, Naruto, Shi and Sakura all sat down in the grass with their backs to one another. Sasuke remained standing a few feet away with his arms crossed.

Shi was picking at the grass, watching a ladybug crawl across a long, leaning blade. Beside her, Naruto had dozed off.

"Morning, everyone, ready for your first day?" Kakashi seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, startling all of his students, three of which jumped up in shock and pointed accusing fingers at him.

"You're late!"

"I'm sorry. A black cat crossed my path, so I had to go around the long way," Kakashi explained simply.

"Hey! That's not nice, the poor kitty didn't do anything wrong!" Shi exclaimed while Sakura and Naruto fumed.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "Let's get started." He the moved over to four tall wooden stumps nearby and placed a large alarm clock onto the one in the middle. "This is set for noon." From his pocket, he then produced three small silver bells, each one tied to the end of a piece of red thread. "Your assignment is very simple: you just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch."

"Wah!" Naruto wailed in protest at this.

Shi, meanwhile, felt a bit queasy. She couldn't tell if maybe she was getting another migraine. She certainly hoped not; Shi had lost track of time while waiting for Kakashi to show up and didn't know when it would be time to take her next dose. Also, there was creeping sense of _déjà vu_ that was starting to surround this situation like a fog. It made her giddy.

Kakashi ignored Naruto's protests. "You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

The four _genin _grimace, gripping their empty stomach as they all simultaneously realized why their _sensei _had ordered them not to eat breakfast.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura piped up, "There's four of us, and there's only three bells."

Kakashi's single visible eye crinkled as he smiled. "Well, that way one of you will automatically be disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the Academy. Then again, all four of you could flunk together."

At this, the members of Team 7 stiffened, determination settling on each of their faces. Shi bit her lip as she looked from Kakashi to Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto and felt her stomach lurch slightly.

She was really fond of all of them, even if she didn't know Sasuke and Sakura as well as Naruto yet. She had hoped their relationship could grow as they all bonded together as a team. The knowledge that at least one of them would be disqualified from Team 7, if not all four of them separated and sent back to the Academy, made bile rise in the back of her throat.

She didn't want to see any of her teammates fail, but Shi clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms until white crescents bloomed across her brown palms. It reminded her that she couldn't let herself fail either; she was meant to be a _shinobi_, all her life she had known this. It was what the Sandaime Hokage had prepared her for since she could first walk and talk; it was the legacy the previous Shi had left behind.

After all of her hard work and progress, after all she had suffered and endured, it would not end here.

Kakashi held the trio of bells in front of them almost tantalizingly as he continued, "You can use any weapon you want. If you aren't prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"But that would be too dangerous, _Sensei_!" Sakura protested.

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser," Naruto added with a laugh.

Kakashi regarded him coldly, "I don't give class clowns much of my time, they are usually the weakest link."

Naruto's eyes flashed with rage and he yanked his kunai from his thigh pack with a yell of rage and started towards Kakashi, swinging the weapon blindly.

"Naruto-" Shi didn't even get his name fully out before the air around them rippled and suddenly, Naruto had stopped mid-step, having been trapped by Kakashi, who was now standing behind them. The_ jonin_ held the boy by a handful of his yellow hair and had somehow managed to relived him of his _kunai, _now pointing it at the back of the boy's head with his free hand.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet."

The other three team members backed up, all effectively startled by the display. Shi was blinking rapidly; she hadn't even seen him move.  
_This is intense…_

Kakashi eventually let Naruto go, and the boy staggered away from his teacher with a huff.  
"While that was reckless, you came at me with the full intention of murdering me," Kakashi chuckled. "I might actually grow to like this team, after all."

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Shi asked.

"I'm fine," her friend snapped back through grit teeth.

"Get ready," Kakashi reclaimed the group's attention as he attached the three coveted bells to his belt. "And…Start!"

The four _genin_ then scattered like a flock of birds before a hungry cat.

Shi quickly concealed herself high up in a nearby tree on the edge of the clearing, almost instinctively. She always felt more secure above ground with sturdy and numerous branches and leaves surrounding her, and the tree could also tell her what was going on around her.

Shi placed her palm against the rough bark of the oak she was nestled in and aligned its chakra wavelengths with her own. This was a techinque called _Kodama_; it was a sensory-based ability that Shi had barely needed to be taught. With a little bit of practice, she had been able to attune her own natural energy with that of the trees that inhabited the _Hi no Kuni_ forests that surrounded _Konohagakure_. To her, it was like a second language. The trees could tell her many things, and the ones in the _Konoha_ woods were usually quite helpful and enjoyed her activities and pranks.

For instance, right now the tree she was crouched in was whispering the locations of her comrades. Sasuke was peering out from between the dense leaves of a tree a few away from her, and Sakura was hidden under a bush on the other side of the clearing.

Both of her teammates were keeping themselves well-concealed, and Shi breathed a sigh of relief. Except, however, there was Naruto…

Kakashi had remained where he had been standing in the middle of the open grassy field beside the four posts. While the other three _genin_ had immediately made a break for the closest thing that could keep them well-hidden, Naruto had only jumped a few yards away from Kakashi and remained entirely exposed to his opponent.

He didn't seem to care at all though and was standing with his arms crossed and a confident scowl on his face. "You and me, fair and square!"

If his face hadn't been covered, Kakashi would probably be gawking at his student.

Nearby, Shi heard Sasuke mutter 'idiot' under his breath. Shi couldn't help but giggle, it was better than bemoaning Naruto's moronic decisions. This drew Sasuke's attention, his dark eyes flicking towards her.

Shi waved at him slightly and whispered, "Hi, Sasuke."

He looked away.

Shi just kept smiling to herself. _This is fun. It's kind of like hide and seek._

Meanwhile, Kakashi sized up Naruto. "You're a bit weird compared to the others."

"The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto fired back before charging the _jonin_ at top speed.

Kakashi just pivoted slightly and calmly reached into his pack. Noticing the gesture, Naruto stopped short a few feet from him, expecting his _sensei_ to pull a_ kunai _or a _shuriken_ on him.

"Shall I teach you a lesson in _taijutsu_?" Kakashi inquired.

"_Taijutsu_ is hand to hand combat!" Naruto asserted, "Why are you reaching for a weapon then?!"

"I'm not." The _jonin sensei_ calmly replied as he then produced a bright orange paperback book from his pack. The title of the book was _Makeout Paradise_. Printed across the cover was the image of a man chasing after a woman in a small dress; there was also a large black and red number eighteen with a line through it.

Shi recognized the book from the comic shop she and Naruto often shoplifted from until yesterday when the owner had apparently installed an alarm after their hijinks with Konohamaru.

"What's that gonna do?" Shi mumbled, leaning forward slightly on her branch. Above her, the other branches shook in the wind, and the crackling sounded like laughter.

Naruto, meanwhile, was red-faced and stunned.

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi called to him.

"W-Why are you reading that book?"

"To find out what happens in the story, of course!" Kakashi then flipped open the R-rated manuscript and began reading from it as nonchalantly as one would sitting in the booth of a coffee shop rather than the middle of a supposed battlefield.  
"Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn't matter if I'm reading or not."

Naruto shrieked with rage, bawling his fists as he charged the rest of the way towards Kakashi. "I'm going to crush you!"

He threw a punch, which the_ jonin_ dodged without even looking up from his book. Naruto then dropped down and tried to kick him in the head, but Kakashi expertly dodged this as well.

Naruto pivoted and lunged confidently forward. "Now you're mine!" However, all his fist touched was air as Kakashi was now crouched behind him.  
"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time," he chided, momentarily putting down his book to put his fingers together like he was going to perform a _jutsu_.

Shi recognized the three fingers placed together as the sign _Tora _or 'Tiger'. It was for a fire _jutsus_.  
"Naruto! Get out of there!" she blurted out, giving away both her and Sasuke's position.

Her friend, meanwhile, could only look her way in acknowledgement he heard her before Kakashi murmured "Too late" and then shoved his fingers right between Naruto's fully exposed butt cheeks.  
"_Sennen Goroshi_!"

The noise Naruto made could have deafened a dog as he catapulted his body several feet in the air, shrieking and wailing as he clutched at his ass.

Sasuke grumbled from his spot in the tree. "They're both idiots."

Shi covered her mouth with both hands, her cheeks puffing out as she held in a laugh. The branches rippled around her, indicating the trees were not having as much success at concealing their amusement. Trees are naturally humorous beings, which is why their branches are usually moving.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been launched so far, he landed in the creek that ran through the edge of the meadow.

"Now then, where was I?" Kakashi then straightened up and opened his book back to the spot he had been reading before and continued to do so.

Several seconds passed, but Naruto didn't resurface.

"He's going to drown." Shi felt a surge of worry and was about to jump down from her hiding spot and into the open when two _shuriken _suddenly whizzed out of the water directly towards Kakashi's head.

However, the_ jonin _simply caught both weapons in one hand without looking up and they spun around two of his fingers like a pair of tops.

Seconds later, Naruto emerged from the creek, sopping wet and choking but alive, much to Shi's relief.

Beside her, the tree informed her that Sasuke was attempting to make a move. Shi assumed he believed Naruto would keep Kakashi distracted enough to allow him to make a successful attack.

_This is one intense game of hide and seek. _

Kakashi walked over to Naruto, who was panting in a heap at the water's edge.  
"You look pretty weak for someone who is going to surpass the _Hokage_. You better hurry up and take a bell from me by noon, or you won't get lunch."

"I'm only weak because you told us to skip breakfast!" Naruto protested. "How can I fight when I'm starving to death?!"

As if on cue, Shi felt her own stomach growl loudly, angry at her for skipping the aforementioned meal as well. "Shut up…" she grumbled, and the tree cackled loudly.

"You just caught me off guard is all!" Naruto continued to protest as Kakashi walked away from him, once again reading his book. "I won't go back to the Academy; I will be a ninja! Whatever it takes-_dattebayo_!"

Suddenly, the water behind him began to ripple and then there was several loud splashes as a half-dozen of Naruto's clones erupted from the water and launched themselves at Kakashi.

"You were overconfident, _Sensei_! You're not prepared for my _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-ttebayo_!"

Despite seven Narutos now running at him full force, Kakashi remained perfectly calm.  
"You act like you're some great ninja, but you're hardly worth my time. You can't beat me with this _jutsu_."

Shi's eyes then widened as she suddenly spotted an eighth Naruto lunge at their_ sensei _from behind. Kakashi spotted him too late, and by that point, this Naruto had his arms and legs wrapped firmly around his own limbs.  
"I thought you said not to let your enemy get behind you, _Sensei_." He chuckled as his clones then started dog piling Kakashi, grabbing onto whatever part of him they could reach until he was overwhelmed and couldn't move.  
Finally, the last remaining Naruto jumped at Kakashi and prepared to punch him point blank. "You're mine now!" However, the only thing Naruto's fist connected with was the face of his own clone. With a sickening crunch, the other Naruto fell back into the pile of his confused duplicates.

"What just happened?!" Shi exclaimed; eyes wide in surprise.

"He got him with the _Kawarami no Jutsu_," Sasuke explained.

"The body replacement techinque?" Shi looked over at him. "So, he switched out a clone? I didn't even see it!"

Down on the ground, Naruto accused the clone he'd punched of being Kakashi-_sensei_ disguised and then all of the Narutos started hitting each other until one of them finally decided to just undo the _jutsu_. However, when this was done, a battered Naruto was the only one standing in the middle of the clearing.

Something shiny then sparkled on the ground below Shi's tree. She looked down, and her jaw dropped as she noticed one of the bells lying on the ground at the base of the tree.

Naruto noticed it too, gleaming in the sun. "A bell!" He made a dive for it, but the tree's branch suddenly smacked him aside and sent him skidding across the grass. "Hey! What the hell was that-_dattebayo_!?"

"The tree said it was a trap," Shi replied, finally coming out of hiding as she dropped down from the branches and moved to stand beside her friend. "So, I told it to stop you."  
As she did so, a rope suddenly sprang up from the ground directly beside her so that it was then swinging back and forth in a noose-like shape, almost like a snare for a rabbit trap. "That could have gotten you." She said to Naruto.

Kakashi then appeared beside them and plucked the bell from the ground before either of them could do anything. "A word of advice: If the bait is obvious, don't take it. It says a lot when a tree is smarter than you."

"I get it!" Naruto snarled.

"I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it," Kakashi asserted.

A ripple of alarm suddenly passed through the tree, and Shi could barely shout a 'look out' to Naruto before a storm of_ shuriken_ and_ kunai_ suddenly rained down around them. Shi shrieked and shielded her face with her hands as a few of the_ kunai_ got lodged in the tree trunk behind her. However, most of them found their mark, slicing into Kakashi's body with deadly accuracy.

The _jonin_ gave a grunt of surprise and pain as he tumbled backward in a shower of blood.

From the bushes, Sakura shrieked while Naruto shouted into the treetops: "Sasuke! You've gone too far!"

Meanwhile, Shi had spun around and quickly yanked the stray weapons from the tree's trunk, gently rubbing the slices in the wood and whispering, "Are you okay?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Kakashi's body disappeared in a puff of smoke, indicating another substitution _jutsu_. A log fell to the ground, its bark bulging with _shuriken_ and _kunai_ lodged deep into the wood.

A dark blur suddenly shot through the uppermost tree branches. Shi watched it zip by over her head, noting that Sasuke was moving his position since he'd just given his previous one away by attacking their _sensei_.

A flash of pink indicated that Sakura had also scrambled away from her hiding spot in the bushes and was probably chasing after him.

Shi felt uneasy; goosebumps were tingling along her arms.  
"We need to get out of the open," she declared. "We're too exposed."

Naruto was too busy grumbling. "A ninja must see through deception," he mocked, "Blah blah blah!"

Suddenly, from somewhere nearby yet unseen, Sakura screamed.

"Tag, you're it!" Shi cried, snatching Naruto by the wrist while putting up her fingers with her free hand, "_Kebari Satsu_!"

The hair bind jutsu made her dreadlocks unravel themselves from their updo as well as elongate and thicken, snapping through the air like tentacles. They latched themselves onto some of the sturdier branches, and Naruto made a shrill noise of surprise as they were lifted off the ground and up into the safety of the dense leaves.

"You should be used to this by now," Shi whispered to him, "And you have to have more strategy than this! It's like tag, and Kakashi-_sensei _is it!"

Naruto pouted, "This isn't a game, Shi-_chan_! It's way more important than that!"

"All of life is a game," Shi replied with a submissive hand wave. Suddenly, another shriek ripped through the surrounding woods, causing a flock of crows to explode out of the branches, cawing in alarm. "I hope Sakura is okay…"

"We should probably go check on her," Naruto declared, steeling himself for a possible rescue of his crush from their wicked _sensei_.

Shi nodded. "Uh huh. Not it."

"Shi-_chan_!"

"I'm just kidding."

Shi then jumped from her branch and onto another one nearby. Naruto, meanwhile, climbed down from the tree. There was a rustle and the sudden snap of a rope going taught, and ha second later, he was hanging upside down in midair with a rope tied around his ankle.

"Waaaaah! Shi-_chan_, help!"

"You got stuck in the trap again?!" Shi cried, turning slightly to see him dangling absurdly from the tree.

"I'm fine! I can get out of it!"

Shi groaned at her friend's clumsiness but kept jumping through the branches, feeling the sting of some awkwardly angled twigs. She offhandedly wondered where Kakashi and Sasuke were but decided not to dwell on it as the whispers of the trees lead her to where Sakura was lying face down in another clearing a few yards away, seemingly in a dead faint.

"Sakura!" Shi jumped down and rushed over to her teammate. "Are you okay?" She knelt down and shook her awake. After a moment, the other girl's eyes snapped open. Her jade irises were wide in her ghostly pale face as she bolted up and looked around wildly.

"Sasuke-_kun_?! Where's Sasuke?!" She looked absolutely terrified. Her whole body was trembling, and she looked so small and frail.

Shi felt bad for her, "Hey, hey. It's ok." She grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Look at me, it's going to be okay."

Sakura swallowed thickly; she looked to be on the verge of tears. "Shi? W-What are you doing here? Where's Sasuke?!"

"I don't know. I think he went after Kakashi-_sensei_."

"I-I saw him…" Sakura's voice trembled. "He-He was hurt. He may be dying! W-We have to find him!" She then quickly scrambled to her feet, staggering slightly in her distress.

"Ok, ok, we will," Shi assured Sakura, gripping her tighter to steady her. The other girl couldn't help but wonder about what Sakura had apparently seen: Sasuke gravely injured and to the point of death…

_Kakashi-sensei might have caught her in a genjutsu, an illusion created by chakra. I'm surprised Sakura didn't detect it, but I guess seeing Sasuke in that state distracted her. _Shi pursed her lips as she scanned the tree line.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Let's go." Shi then took Sakura's hand and pulled her back into the woods.

"Where are you taking me?! We have to find Sasuke!"

"We are." Shi replied, letting go of her companion's hand and going over to another tree. She then placed a hand onto the bark and closed her eyes, listening.

"What are you doing?"

"Be quiet."

After another second, Shi opened her eyes and turned back to Sakura. "This way." Grabbing her hand again, she pulled her back in the direction of the clearing.

They ran through the wood and wrapped around the edge of the grassy plain. Sakura protested for most of the trek, demanding to know where Shi was taking her and then doubting her explanation that 'the tree told her where Sasuke was'.

Finally, they broke through the tree line into yet another clearing, which was smaller than the others and more shadowed by overhanging branches.

As soon as they burst into the open, both Sakura and Shi stopped dead in their tracks. In the middle of clearing was Sasuke's head, peering up at them with a rather startled expression.  
"S-Sakura…Shi?"

The former girl gave another ear-piercing shriek at the sight of him. "Now he's just a talking head!" She then keeled over before Shi could stop her and lay flat on her back unconscious.

Shi whipped back around to Sasuke, who was looking on in both confusion and embarrassment. She then managed to grasp what was going on, noting the heavy cracks in the ground surrounding Sasuke's head and neck. It looked like he'd fallen past his shoulders into a sink hole.

"Um…" Shi tentatively stepped over to him, sizing up the situation, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Sasuke looked away, "The _jonin_ trapped me in a _Doton Jutsu._ I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. Do you need a hand though?"

"I guess."

After a great amount of effort and difficulty as well as some pulling, poking and groaning in frustration, Shi managed to free Sasuke from the ground.

He barely muttered so much as a thanks before brushing past her and wandering over to where Sakura was still passed out in the dirt. "Is she alive?"

"I think so. She was just worried about you. She thought you were hurt," Shi explained.

Sasuke knelt down beside the other girl. "Sakura?" He flicked her between the eyes.

She snapped awake with a start, her large green eyes blinking rapidly as her vision struggled to focus. When they did, she gave a squeal of delight. "Sasuke-_kun_!" Sakura threw her arms around his neck with a sob of relief.

"Let go of me!"

Shi looked back in the direction of the original grassy clearing with the creek and the four wooden posts. "I wonder what Naruto's doing…"

Sasuke, meanwhile, was looking up at the sky. The sun was almost directly over their heads. "It's almost noon. I have to get one of those bells before lunch."

"Do you actually think you'll be able to do that?!" Sakura blurted out.

"Before I was trapped in the ground, my hand brushed one of them. Next time, I will get it."

"You almost got one!" Shi gaped slightly, impressed.

"Yeah, but it's almost lunch, all the same," Sakura laughed weakly, "Maybe we should just give up and try again next year."

The look Sasuke gave her at this remark could had curdled milk. She paled in response as he turned from them  
"I'm not giving up. I'm the only one…the only one who can kill him."

"Who? Kakashi-_sensei_?" Sakura was confused, "I'm pretty sure we aren't supposed to kill him."

"I don't think he means our _sensei_-"

"Shi, shut up!" Sasuke snarled at her, and she snapped her jaw closed tight.

"What?" Sakura looked between them, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and stalked off back towards the place they started from.

After a minute, Sakura followed him without a word. Shi did as well.

When they got to the clearing, they were greeted by the sight of Naruto already tied to one of the posts with Kakashi leaning against a nearby tree, reading from his book.

As soon as they crossed the threshold into the open meadow, the alarm clock rang, signaling the midday hour was upon them.

"Damnit!" Sakura shrieked, stamping her foot.

"We're too late…" Shi trailed off, her eyes flicking to Naruto. "Why was he already tied up? Naruto what did you do?" She then noticed three _bento_ boxes and three pairs of chopsticks lying on the grass in front of the four pillars.

"Ah, good. You're right on time," Kakashi called to them, putting down his book and beckoning to them.

The three kids sat down on the grass around the remaining posts and the restrained Naruto.

"To answer your question, Shi, I caught Naruto trying to have an early lunch. He found the _bento_ boxes I brought for you all and decided to help himself."

Shi glared at her friend, who laughed sheepishly as his stomach growled hollowly.  
"Naruto, you idiot."

"Now, listen up," Kakashi called to get their attention. "Despite the fact that none of you managed to get a bell away from me before lunchtime, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the Academy."

Sakura blinked. "What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?"

"And I just ran around trying to stop everyone from getting hurt," Shi added. "I also hit Naruto with a tree."

"So that means that all four of us pass?!" Naruto exclaimed, kicking his legs in excitement as his arms were still bound by the rope.

"The four of you won't be sent back to the Academy," Kakashi repeated, "Instead, you'll be dropped from the program. Permanently."

These words were like a physical weight that crushed all four kids. The clearing fell deathly silent, only broken by an enraged Naruto.

"What?! That's not fair! You said that we'd only be sent back to the Academy! If we're dropped from the program entirely than we'll never be ninja-ttebayo!"

Shi was overwhelmed. She felt her eyes stinging with tears. "You can't just kick us out! Why would you do that?!"

"Because none of you think like ninja," Kakashi replied simply, "You all act like little kids, like brats."

At this, something snapped. Sasuke was suddenly charging Kakashi at full force, completely oblivious to the consequences.

"Sasuke-_kun_, no!" Sakura could barely scream before their jonin sensei had him pinned under his foot, face down in the dirt.

"You think it's all about you."

"Stop it! You can't step on Sasuke like he's a bug!" Sakura protested.

Kakashi glared at her. "You're more concerned about a boy than your ninja skills, and Naruto just stumbled through the exercise without a single thought to any of his actions. He even tried to steal the lunches!"

Sasuke seethed from under the _jonin's_ sandal, tensing as he tried to wrench free. Sakura and Shi just watched, petrified, and Naruto grumbled from his spot tied to the post.

"Why did you think we put you on squads? Did you stop for a second to even consider what this exercise was really about?" Kakashi actually seemed enraged now, although it was hard to tell with his mostly covered face. "None of you seemed to understand, not even close. Well…almost none of you."  
His eye then flickered to Shi who was standing there in bemusement. "One of you was halfway there."

"What?" Sakura looked at her as well, "Shi?! But she didn't do anything!"

"That's right. I didn't really do anything." Now Shi felt a little embarassed. "I mean, I didn't try to get a bell from you once. I ran out of time."

"And why did you run out of time?"

Shi stared at him. "I don't know. I guess I was too busy hitting Naruto with a tree, but I was mostly just waffling around."

"Wrong. The first thing you did was figure out the location of your teammates. Then you managed to save Naruto from being trapped in the snare, you also located Sakura after she was attacked, and you saved Sasuke after he was incapacitated as well. Do you get where I'm going with this?"

Shi shook her head. "I don't think so."

"It really is quite simple. The point of this exercise was teamwork."

"Teamwork?!" Naruto and Sakura both repeated, aghast.

"Of course. If you had all come at me at once, you might have actually been able to get the bells from me. Shi had part of the exercise figured out by assisting each one of her teammates; however, she lacked the foresight, willpower or skill to come up with an effective strategy to attack me. In the end, she treated it too much like a casual game. However, if the other three had assisted her, Sasuke's skill, Naruto's willpower and Sakura's foresight might have come in handy in creating an effective strategy. Your teamwork would have gotten you the bells."

"Hold on!" Sakura interjected. "You only have three bells and there are four of us, so one of us would automatically fail no matter what. This would lead to conflict in the group and the team cohesion would unravel."

"Of course," Kakashi smiled slightly through his mask, "I purposefully pitted you against each other. The challenge was realizing that putting your team before yourself is what is ultimately important in _shinobi_ combat and completing missions successfully.  
Individual skills are always valuable to a team, but ninja missions are carried out in squads for a reason," Kakashi continued, pressing his foot a bit harder on Sasuke as he once again tried to wriggle free, making sure he would listen. "Because teamwork is the most essential element, every shinobi knows and understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, everything falls apart. For instance…"  
Kakashi then pulled a _kunai_ from his pack. "Sakura, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies." He thrust the weapon against Sasuke's throat.

All three kids screamed in terror.

However, Kakashi quickly retracted the blade. Sasuke looked pale.

"That's what happens on a real mission." Their _sensei _explained simply. "The enemy takes a hostage, and an impossible choice has to be made. Either way, someone ends up dead." Kakashi casually swung the rounded tip of the kunai around his finger as he finally climbed off Sasuke and let him up. "In every mission you must be prepared to put your life on the line."

Their_ sensei_ than strolled away from them, walking towards the large monument on the other side of the clearing. It was a strange diamond-like shape carved out of an obsidian stone with a bluish tint in the places where the sunlight hit it. "Did you ever see this monument before? The names carved onto it belong to_ shinobi _who are honored as heroes in our village."

"That's so cool!" Naruto blurted out, "I want my name carved on that stone some day! I want to be a hero-_dattebayo_!"

"The people whose name are on this monument are a special kind of hero," Kakashi replied, glancing at him over his shoulder "They were all K.I.A."

Naruto faltered. "What's that mean?"

"It means 'killed in action'." Shi hung her head. "My…My mother's on that stone. _Sandaime-sama_ showed it to me once a long time ago."

Naruto fell silent, no longer as enthusiastic.

"Yes, this is a memorial stone," Kakashi explained, "The names of my closest friends are carved her as well. After a moment, the jonin sensei turned back around. "I've decided I'm going to give you another chance to pass this test, but I'm going to make it much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to regain your strength, but Naruto doesn't get any!"

"What?!"

"It's punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself, and if anyone feeds him, that person will immediately fail." He pointedly looked at Shi this time.

The young girl wilted under the look he gave her; it was almost monstrous.

"I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?"

The four kids nodded.

So, Kakashi retreated off to god's knew where as Shi, Sakura and Sasuke all tucked into the simple _bento_ box meals their _sensei_ had brought for them. It wasn't much, consisting only of plain meat and rice, but the three kids were too hungry to care.

Speaking of hunger, poor Naruto grumbled and wriggled around against his binds, his stomach growling louder and louder in violent protest to the smell and sight of food.

However, the louder his stomach growled, the louder he tried to shout over it: "This is no big deal! I can go without eating for days, weeks! No big deal-_dattebayo_!" His stomach than growled extra loud, so even his bravado couldn't drown it out. "No problem…." He grumbled weakly.

Shi looked up at her friend with a pained expression, the food in her mouth tasting sour as she swallowed it. She wanted so badly to give him even just a single mouthful; it was in her nature. She liked to cook for and feed people.

"Hey," Sakura, who was sitting beside Shi, got her attention by taping her shoulder. "Don't even think about. If you feed him, you'll automatically be disqualified from the _shinobi_ program"

"I know, but he's my friend…" Shi bit the inside of her mouth, felling torn-up inside.

"Look. What does it matter anyways? It's better this way."

Shi looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I think I figured it out."

"You have?"

"Of course!" I mean, look at us. We're a team of four. That's really unlucky because _genin_ teams are supposed to be a group of three but Iruka_-sensei_ said we had an odd number, so that's why there's an extra member. It's obvious who that odd number is," She then gestured to Naruto not too subtly. "I don't know how he qualified to be a _genin_, but if he hadn't than it would just be you, me and Sasuke on this team. I think that's what this bell test was for, to eliminate one member and get it down to just a group of three again."

Shi shifted uncomfortably. "You think so?"

"I know so." Sakura was very matter of fact. "And look, it could go back to the way it's supposed to be, with you, me and Sasuke on a team. If Naruto doesn't eat, he'll be slower than the rest of us, and it'll be harder for him to get the bells or to work together with us. He'll fail the test, and it will be the two of us girls and Sasuke. Won't that be great? The perfect team!"

Sakura seemed completely oblivious to the look Shi was giving her.

"Here."

Both girls whirled around to see Sasuke was holding out his bento box to an equally stunned Naruto.

"Sasuke-_kun_! What are you doing?! You heard what Kakashi-_sensei _said!" Sakura looked around franticaly.

"He's gone, and you said it yourself: We need to get these bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry, he'll be too weak to perform adequately. That affects the team as a whole and jeopardizes the mission."

Sakura looked down at her own food and gulped.

"Sasuke's right!" Shi declared, "I can't let my friend go hungry. Screw that one-eyed jerk!"

"Shi, shut up," Sasuke snapped at her before handing Naruto a mouthful of rice, which the boy quickly gulped down.

"Here." Shi gave him a piece of meat, which he also gobbled up in earnest.

After another moment's hesitation, Sakura held out some of her food to Naruto as well.

His eyes were the size of dinner plates as he looked at her. "Sakura-_chan_…" He almost wept with joy. "Thanks…"

As soon as Naruto gulped down another morsel, there was an explosion of smoke that shrouded the entire clearing.

Everyone snapped their heads towards it in alarm as the cloud cleared, and Kakashi appeared out of the ether.  
"YOU!"

All four kids cowered at the sight of him.

"You broke the rules! I hope you are ready for the punishment." Kakashi than made a series of hand signs.

"W-Wait!" Naruto stammered, "You said that the four of us are all on team together-_ttebayo_! That's why Sasuke and Sakura-_chan_ and Shi-_chan_ gave me their lunch."

"We're all in this together," Sasuke added.

"All four of us, we're a team," Shi agreed.

"That's right!" Sakura chimed in.

"The four of you are one team? That's your excuse?" Kakashi stalked over to them. The four genin prepared themselves.  
Kakashi chuckled. "You pass."

Now, they were all aghast at their_ sensei's_ abrupt change in demeanor.

"EH?!" Naruto writhed around on his post.

"You. Pass."

"What do you mean?" Sakura inquired. "How did we pass?"

"You're the first squad I've ever had that succeeded," Kakashi declared, "All of the other ones that tried fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the _shinobi_ world, those who break the rules are scum, and while that is true, those that abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Shi closed her eyes and shook her head. _Déjà vu_ again…

"The final test is over." Kakashi gave them a thumbs up, "Team 7 begins their first mission tomorrow!"

Sakura clapped her hands. "Cha! Yes!"

Sasuke smirked.

Shi jumped and down, flapping her arms and squealing with delight.

"I did it! I did it! I'm a ninja-_dattebayo!_" Naruto shouted to the heavens, kicking his legs and flailing what he could of his still bound arms.

"Shi, untie him," Kakashi ordered her. "He's going to hurt himself."

* * *

Kakashi bid the group a rather fond farewell at the gate of _Konoha_. By the time the group had returned to the village, the sun had sunk low over the _Hokage Iwa_.

"Man, I'm starving again," Naruto grumbled. "Why did we have to have the training exercise so far away from the village?"

Shi looked up at the waning daylight. "I suppose we could get an early dinner. What do you guys think? Ramen's on me."

"Really?! Yes!" Naruto jumped up and down, "That sounds great-Shi-_chan_!"

Sasuke nodded in supposed agreement.

"Um! I don't think I can!" Sakura said loudly, pointedly, "My mom probably has dinner waiting for me, so I'm going to go eat that!" She looked at Shi, nudging her arm.

"Sakura, why are you-? Oh right! Are you sure, Sakura?!" Shi shouted at her, "Don't you want to eat ramen with your new teammates?!"

"Maybe next time!" Sakura called as she ran off down the road, "Have a good night, _Sasuke-kun_."

"Hmph."

Shi waved Sakura off before she caught Naruto looking at her. "What?"

"Girls are weird."

* * *

At _Ramen Ichiraku_, Naruto ordered his bowl with a lot of extra pork as usual, Shi got a beef bowl this time and Sasuke asked for a side of tomato.

"Those are your favorite, right?" Shi observed as he ate it, trying to make conversation.

"Hmph."

Shi squirmed in her seat.

"Blegh, I don't like tomatoes," Naruto interjected. "Vegetables are gross."

"They're a fruit, you idiot," Sasuke snapped at him.

"Sasuke!" Shi yelled at him, causing him to drop his tomato slice into his broth. "You ended up being right about the teammate thing! That was very good of you."

"Shi, why are you shouting?" Naruto asked.

"So, you think we work good together as a team?" Shi continued to talk to Sasuke.

He shrugged, spooning noodles into his mouth.

"Do you think Sakura works well with us? With you, more specifically? I mean-What I meant to say was…What do you think of her?"

Sasuke slurped his noodles and looked at her. He shrugged.

Shi wanted to beat her head against the table.

"_I _think Sakura-_chan_ is the prettiest girl in the class!" Naruto once again inserted himself into the discussion, "She's so smart and kind and cute!"

"Yes, yes, I know," Shi flapped her hands at him, "But I'm not talking to you. Sasuke, you called Sakura annoying before. You don't really think that, do you?"

Sasuke put his spoon down beside his empty bowl. "I don't know. Maybe. She acts annoying sometimes."

"Sakura-_chan's_ not annoying! You're the annoying one, Sasuke."

"Naruto, be quiet."

"Shi?"

"Yes?"

"I want to ask you something."

Shi looked at Sasuke, her eyes wide. "Um…What is it? Is it about Sakura?"

Sasuke looked up at her. His dark eyes were very intense. "Can I…Can I touch your hair?"

Shi almost fell off her chair.

"Why does everyone want to touch Shi-_chan's_ hair?!" Naruto demanded.

Meanwhile, Shi sighed. "I guess." She then leaned forward slightly and let Sasuke run his fingers lightly over her dreadlocks, feeling the coarse, rough strands, almost like wire.

It was true that a lot of people often asked to touch Shi's hair to see what it felt like in its dreadlocked state. She'd be lying if she said it didn't get on her nerves.

Shi didn't always have her hair like this. When they'd first started at the academy at age six, she'd worn her natural hair in all its curly messiness. However, three years later, the _Raikage_ from the _Kaminari no Kuni_ had arrived in _Konoha_ for a meeting with the _Hokage_ and had brought along an entourage of ambassadors and bodyguards. Shi remembered watching them entire the village.

She'd been transfixed because they had looked like her! Not only that but a few of them had their hair twisted into dreadlocks, and the young girl had thought it looked so cool and asked the _Hokage_ about it later. Of course, he'd been clueless on the matter, but he quickly directed her to the house on the hill where all of her mother's journals were stored. In fact, that had been the first time he'd shown her that place, and the hair tying _jutsu_ was the first techinque her mother had left behind that Shi had learned.

"Anyways," Sasuke pulled his hand back and stood up. "Thanks for the ramen." He bowed his head politely, albeit stiffly, before turning from his teammates and disappearing through the curtain of the ramen shop.

Shi watched him go until Teuchi, the owner of the ramen stand, asked them if they wanted seconds, and Naruto readily accepted.

* * *

Sakura was waiting for Shi outside her apartment when she got home. Dusk had finally settled on the village and the shadows stretched long across the roads.

"Well?!" she was close to bursting as she rushed up to the other girl. "Did you ask him what he thought about me?! What did he say?"

Shi wilted; she'd been dreading this. "Not much."

Sakura faltered slightly. "What do you mean?! You did ask him, right?"

"Yes, I did!" Shi was frustrated, "But have you met Sasuke?! It's like talking to a brick wall."

Sakura sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're right. You probably tried your best, but our target is a tricky one, after all. We just need a better plan of attack."

For some reason, Shi felt a little uneasy. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Inwardly, she grimaced. _What am I getting myself into?!_

* * *

A/N: Kujaku Shi uses primarily four jutsu in Part 1 of Naruto (obviously her jutsu arsenal increases for Shippuden and beyond) You've seen two of the four so far: _Kodama_ which is a sensory jutsu that allows her to feel chakra through trees or 'talk' to trees and _Kebari Satsu_ or 'Hair Bind' which is a jutsu similar to Jiraiya's _Kebari Senbon _in canon that involves manipulating hair.  
Anyways, this chapter was long but still kinda fun to write. Leave a review and let me know what you think!


	6. The Land of Waves

A/N: Shout out to the new followers! Also heads up! Shi isn't the only new addition to the Naruto World! :D

* * *

Chapter 6: The Land of Waves

* * *

Shi sat crouched in a tree, her body tense with anticipation as she scanned the dense thicket of woods directly below her. Anxiously, she tapped the plastic strap of the headset apparatus that was clipped to her throat like a choker. A pair of ear buds extended out from the small communication box mounted on the strap and these were tucked securely in her ears.

The other members of Team 7 were on the other end of the communication device, but currently, there was nothing but radio silence as Shi perched in her position, awaiting the signal from the others.

After another moment, a static sound brought the headset to life. "Shi, do you copy?" Kakashi's voice whispered in her ear.

Shi jumped a little, having grown stiff while she waited. Grasping the headset, she nodded her head. "Yes, I'm here."

"Confirm the target's location," her sensei ordered her.

"Yes, sir." Shi closed her eyes and placed her palm flat on the tree branch below her. "It's about twenty yards northeast, heading this way," she said after a moment.

"Good. Did everyone else copy?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, sensei."

"Loud and clear-_dattebayo_!"

"Naruto be quiet. You're going to give away your position. Now then, everyone has permission to move in. You all know the plan."

The transmission line then went quiet for a moment, but the static indicated that it was still active.

Shi returned her attention to scanning her surroundings, waiting.

Suddenly, there was a great amount of ruckus over the headset. There were sounds like heavy footsteps, rustling of leaves and branches and finally:

"Shi, get ready!" Kakashi called to her.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" Shi then flipped down backwards off the branch, hanging upside down from the tree and letting her long dreadlocks dangle towards the ground.

A second later, the bushes parted, and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura burst out of the underbrush, each one hot the tail of a brown fluffy cat that they had all worked to simultaneously lure in this direction.

Shi grinned from her upside-down position. "Target acquired."  
Then, as the cat ran under her, Shi's dreadlocks twisted and stretched out to grab hold of the cat. They coiled loosely around the animal's neck like a snare trap. The creature howled in a panic, but Shi used more dreadlocks to keep it secure as it scratched and scrambled, trying to break free.

"I got it!" Shi called over the transmitter.

"Good. Can you confirm the red ribbon tied on the right ear?" Kakashi inquired.

"Yes. We have a positive I.D," Sasuke replied as Naruto ran over to detangle the angry cat from Shi's hair.

Almost as soon as he did so, the thing turned around and started clawing at his face and arms, shrieking.  
"Wah! Why the hell did we have to get this mission?! I hate cats-_dattebayo_!" Naruto screamed into the headset, generating a massive amount of feedback and causing everyone to cover their ears, yelling in alarm.

"Naruto! You can't yell like that! You've got a headset on!" Sakura chided.

"Everyone, stop screaming into the damn microphones!" Kakashi shouted from somewhere else in the forest, sounding very weary.

Eventually, Team 7 made it back to _Konoha _after their cat hunting adventure. They brought the wayward feline to the _Hokage's _main office where her owner was waiting for her.

* * *

Said owner happened to be Madam Shijimi, the wife of _Daimyo _of the _Hi no Kuni_. It is said that humans often grow to imitate the attributes of their pets themselves, and vice versa. This was quite true in Shijimi-_sama_'s case: while Tora the cat was large and aggressive, her owner was even larger and more aggressive. Upon first meeting her, Naruto had inquired if she was a member of the Akimichi clan, which was both mean and a surprisingly accurate assessment of her physical appearance. The _Daimyo's_ wife was tall and wide, barrel-chested with full cheeks jutting out of the sides of a huge white face that looked like a full moon covered in kabuki makeup. Her hair was a stiff pile of sculpted brown locks stacked on top of her body in a strange, almost architectural design. Her clothes were bright and probably would have looked more expensive if they weren't so gaudy.

As soon as the young _genin_ crowded into the Hokage's office with Tora the cat in tow, Madam Shimiji let out a high-pitched shriek and moved across the room awfully fast for a woman her size. She swept the cat out of Sakura's arms and crushed the yowling creature against her chest, smothering Tora's face with her own.

"Ooooh! My poor little Tora! Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins!" the large woman exclaimed in a 'baby voice' as she continued to smush her cat against her face.

Naruto sniggered at the wailing animal's misfortune, "Haha! Stupid cat!"

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura added with a grimace.

"Poor kitty," Shi lamented. Despite all of the trouble it had caused them to recapture Tora, she felt a little bad for the cat now.

"He deserves to be squashed-_ttebayo_!" Naruto insisted, laughing as the mewling animal was dragged out of the room by Madam Shimeji after she had handed a clean stack of bills to one of the tellers seated at the desk beside the _Hokage_ and Iruka.

"Now then…" _Sandaime-sama_ puffed his pipe as he scanned the stack of paperwork in front of him, "For Team 7's next mission we have several available options: Babysitting the Chief Counselor's three-year-old, helping his wife with the shopping, digging up potatoes at the-"

"Nooooo!" Naruto shouted over the Hokage's rambling, "I wanna go on a real mission-_dattebayo_! Something challenging and exciting, not this little kid stuff. Come on, old man!"

Beside him, Kakashi sighed heavily. Their _sensei_ had had a long day.

"How dare you?!" Iruka jumped up, furious at his former student. "You're just a brand-new _genin _with no experience. Like everyone else, you are expected to start with simple D-Rank missions that build up your skills, so you can eventually take on a C-Rank or even B-rank assignment!"

"Are you kidding?! Babysitting isn't a mission, it's just a stupid-Gawk!" Naruto is cut off as Kakashi promptly socked him in the back of the head, causing him to fall face first into the hard wood floor.

"He has a point, you know, _Hokage-sama_." Shi was a bit more respectful as she stepped forward, "The kinds of jobs you're recommending to us are the sorts of things Naruto and I used to do as chores before graduating. I mean, gardening? Babysitting? You would pay me extra allowance to keep an eye on Konohamaru for most of my summer breaks. I don't think these are really lined up with our skill set, Iruka-_sensei_. No offense…"

From his spot on the floor, Naruto glanced up at Shi with a groan. She winked at him.

"Shi-_chan's_ right!" Naruto then added, jumping back up. "We're not the same little brats that used to pull pranks all the time. We're ninja now-_dattebayo_!"

The Hokage chuckled at his outburst. "Oh? So, you are not a brat anymore but a former brat? A brat that wants a mission no less. So be it."

The members of Team 7 all gasped simultaneously in surprise; Kakashi's quarter-face reflected the most shock.

"I'm going to give you a C-Rank mission," the Hokage announced, "I have one in mind, already. You'll be bodyguards on an escort assignment."

"Really?! Yes!" Naruto was elated. "Who? Who are we guarding?! Are we guarding a princess or a counselor?"

"Don't get too excited," the Hokage chided. "He's actually waiting outside. Iruka, show the gentleman in," he nodded to the _chunin sensei_, who quickly got up and stepped out of the room.

After a moment, the office door slid back open, and Iruka reentered with another person following close behind, "These are the ninja assigned to escort you, Tazuna-_san_."

"What?!" slurred the second man, who stumbled into the room, "A bunch of snot-nosed brats!" He paused to take a sip from the large brown bottle clenched in his fist, a bit of the liquid dribbling down his chin and catching in his beard.

Shi surveyed the man they would be escorting, whom Iruka-_sensei_ had referred to as Tazuna. He was an older gentleman with a heavy stoop brought on by age and years of hard work. He had thick grey hair and beard, the latter of which reeked of alcohol. In fact, all of him smelled of heavy drink due to the fact he was greatly intoxicated; his red face and slurred speech were a further indication. Tazuna leaned against the door frame as he scowled at Team 7, sizing them all up. "You. The littler one with the stupid look on his face. Are you seriously supposed to be a ninja?"

"Haha!" Naruto chortled, "Shi-_chan_, he's making fun of you." Shi was indeed the shortest out of the four of them.

"I'm not talking about the girl; I'm talking about you, Eightball," Tazuna burped, taking another swig of his liquor.

At this, Naruto erupted into a rage, "I'll demolish you!" he shrieked, lunging for Tazuna, but Kakashi held him back.

"You can't 'demolish' the client, Naruto."

"My name is Tazuna," said client introduced himself, "I am a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I am building a bridge there that will change the land forever, and I need you to ensure I reach my home safely, even if it means giving up your life."

The four kids all exchanged a glance. The intensity in Tazuna's words was making each of them a little nervous.

Shi swallowed quietly, suddenly not entirely sure if she was as prepared for this mission as she thought. However, the alternative to this was babysitting and picking potatoes. Suddenly, risking death didn't seem so bad.

"Nice to meet you," Shi eagerly trotted over to Tazuna, holding out her hand for him to shake. "My name is Kujaku Shi. I'm looking forward to working with you."

The old man glanced down at her in confusion. "Eh? You're a funny little thing, aren't you? You look like you should be from _Takigakure _or _Kumogakure _rather than _Konohagakure._

"Uh…" Shi faltered, withdrawing her hand.

"Never mind him, Shi," the _Hokage_ called to her. "Tazuna has been waiting for several frustrating days to have a _shinobi_ squad assigned to escort him home. It's only natural that he would want to take the edge off a little."

"Yes, sir."

"Now then," the_ Hokage_ addressed the entire team. "You will depart from the village with Tazuna first thing tomorrow morning. Everyone will meet at the main gate at sunrise. Do not be late."

"Yes, _Hokage-sama_."

* * *

The following morning with stomachs full of breakfast and backpacks full of supplies, the four _genin_ and their _jonin_ instructor trooped out of the village with a now sober Tazuna trailing behind them.

"Yeah! Alright!" Naruto ran ahead of the rest of the group.

"What are you so excited about this early in the morning?" Sakura grumbled.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village! I'm a traveling ninja now! An explorer-_ttebayo_!" Naruto replied as he zipped eagerly along the path.

Tazuna grumbled at his display. "Am I really supposed to entrust my life to this runt? He's a joke!"

Kakashi laughed. "He's my subordinate, and I'm a _jonin_, so you don't have to worry."

Naruto's expression soured at Tazuna's words. "Hey! Never insult a ninja; it's a big mistake, and I'm one of the greatest ninjas of all time! I'm going to be the _Hokage_ one day, and then you'll look up to me. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Remember it-_dattebayo_!"

Tazuna shrugged as he reached into his pack and pulled out another bottle of liquor, clearly no longer intending to make the remainder of this trip sober. "_Hokage_ are powerful and wise; you are puny and brainless."

"Shut up!" Naruto was enraged. "I _will _become the next _Hokage_, no matter what it takes! Then everyone will have to acknowledge me, even you!"

Tazuna harrumphed. "Even if you become the_ Hokage_, I'll still see you as the scrawny brat screaming at me in the middle of the road."

"You're going to regret that!" Naruto lunged, but Kakashi grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"You're supposed to protect the client, not attack them, remember?"

"Naruto is so noisy all the time," Sakura whispered to Shi. "I don't understand how you put up with him."

Shi shrugged. "He's not so bad, really. I guess you get used to it after a while."

"Listen up, everyone," Kakashi addressed the entire group now that he'd managed to calm Naruto down. "What I'm about to say to you is very important: Tazuna's home country is the _Nami no Kuni_, which is a small island country off the coast of southernmost part of the continent. In order to get there, we have to move down through the _Hi no Kuni_ and eventually pass through the _In-yō no Kuni_."

Naruto blinked. "Land of…Ying-Yang? Where's that?"

"It's the country that borders ours, Naruto," Sakura explained with a huff. "Gods, didn't you pay attention at all in school?"

Beside her, Shi noticed Tazuna looked uneasy at the mention of this country; he took another hefty swig from his bottle.

"I need everyone to pay attention," Kakashi sounded a little annoyed, "Because this is important. In order to reach the _Nami no Kuni,_ we have no choice but to request passage through the _In-yō no Kuni_. There's no way around it since the nation wraps around the entire bottom half of the continent. Therefore, we will be stopped by the border patrol once we reach the edge of our country."

"The border patrol?!" Sakura looked slightly afraid.

"Yeah. That country's very precise about who can go in and who can come out," Tazuna muttered.

"Don't be alarmed," Kakashi assured them. "I have paperwork for all of us, including a signed letter from the _Hokage_. We should have no problems. However, I need to remind all of you to be on your best behavior and let me do the talking. That includes you, Tazuna." He gave the bridge builder a pointed look.

The old man grunted in response. "No complaints here. I'll let you deal with those shady sons of bitches, _jonin_."

The edges of Kakashi's eye crinkled somewhat, indicating he was probably smiling underneath his mask, although it was most likely a forced one. "Good. Then let's keep moving, everyone; we have a lot of ground to cover."

* * *

The group trooped through the dense forests that surrounded_ Konohagakure_. They mostly walked in silence, although Shi and Sakura walked side by side at the back of the procession, talking amongst themselves in hushed voices.

Meanwhile, Naruto spearheaded the group, marching along with confidence while Kakashi and Sasuke lingered in the middle beside Tazuna.

It was a fine day for a hike. The summer air was warm, but not unpleasantly hot, and the sky was bright and sunny with hardly a cloud in sight.

Eventually, the rhythmic bubbling of a stream could be heard, and the ninja squad and bridge builder soon came across a narrow stretch of running water that carved quaintly through the woods. To cross it, there was a small wooden bridge that was low enough to the ground it didn't require any handles.

Eventually, the trees of the forest started to thin out as the path before them grew wider, indicating they were nearing one of the major highways.

As they walked along, Shi and Sakura continued talking.

"Come on, Shi. You've got to have some kind of idea."

"I really don't. I told you before that Sasuke is a difficult person to talk to, let alone get close to."

"I know that. Why do you think I recruited your help in the first place?"

"Yeah, but I can't come up with_ all_ of the ideas."

Sakura sighed as she waved her remarked aside. "Alright, alright. Well, Sasuke's opinion of me right now seems to be neutral airing on the side of negative, right?"

"Right. He thinks you're kind of annoying sometimes."

"Don't remind me. In that case, we need to find a way to change that opinion, so that he'll like me a little more. Right?"

"That makes sense, but how do we do that?"

"Well, what do you think?"

Shi paused to have a think. "Well, I was going to suggest baking him something, but Sasuke doesn't like cookies or any sweets for that matter. Hmmm…he does like tomatoes though."

Sakura made a face. "But I'm rubbish at cooking! I have to impress him, remember?"

"Well, I could always show you how to prepare something simple for him. Cooking really isn't that hard once you get the hang of it."

Sakura' eyes lit up at this. "Really?! You would do that for me, Shi?"

"Yeah. I think that would be kind of fun."

"Thank you so much! But what kind of-?"

However, Sakura's question was cut off because two figures draped in long dark cloaks suddenly jumped seemingly from a large puddling in the middle of the dirt path. Huge studded exploded across everyone's vision as they abruptly wrapped around a startled Kakashi like a pair of snakes.

"Hey!"

"What the hell?!"

Sakura and Naruto both screamed in alarm as their _jonin _was immobilized by the two enemy _shinobi_.

As one of the duo kept Kakashi firmly wrapped up in his chains, the other suddenly leapt into the air, and the silver metal claws on his free hand gleamed in the sun as he brought them down on Kakashi.

Shi clapped a hand to her mouth and shrieked in pure terror as her _sensei's_ body was sliced to rivets. She felt her blood burn, and her head start to pulse with pain.

"K-Kakashi-_sensei_!" Naruto stammered, horrified.

There was a flash.

"Naruto, behind you!" Shi yelled, starting forward even though she felt queasy.

"No!" Sakura grabbed her arm. Shi looked back to see that the other girl had moved to stand directly in front of Tazuna, the old man having backed away as soon as the enemy ninja had surfaced. "Our mission is to protect Tazuna-_san_. Remember?"

"But…" Shi hesitated.

"Shi!"

"Fine. You're right." Shi grit her teeth as she turned from Naruto and Sasuke. "Get behind him, I'll stand in front."

"You girls are going to protect me?" Tazuna inquired as Sakura pulled a _kunai_ from her belt and Shi one from her sleeve, and both assumed a fighting stance.

"We're going to try," Shi replied.

"Now it's your turn," the two masked_ shinobi _swung their chain weapons at Naruto.

The boy cowered, face white as chalk.

Sasuke moved like lightning. He jumped into the air almost as fast as the two cloaked _shinobi _and pulled a _kunai_ and a _shuriken_ from his pack just as quickly. He threw both with deadly accuracy and there was a loud clang as they struck both of the chains in turn and pinned them together to the same nearby tree.

The other two _shinobi_ jerked their heads in shock. They were wearing gas masks over their mouths and grey camo on their pants. The also had _shinobi hitai-ate's_ tied across their brows; the symbol engraved on them were four dashes.

_They're from the Kirigakure_, Shi thought just as Sakura cried out.

"Sasuke-_kun_!"

As the two _shinobi_ struggled to free the weapons attached to their arms from the tree, Sasuke dropped down and smoothly landed with one foot on each of their bound arms. He then promptly kicked them both in the head simultaneously, causing them to fall back into the dirt with their chains jangling.

They went slack as the two_ shinobi_ detached them from their gauntlets, and then they abruptly circled the group, moving at a dizzying speed that hurt Shi's eyes to try and keep up

One of them dove behind Naruto, attempting to get the drop on him again, while the other flanked the whole group and moved behind Tazuna and Sakura.

The old man whirled around, desperate to try and track his attacker.

"Stay behind me!" Sakura dove between the old man and the _Kiri shinobi_.

"Sakura!" Shi moved to do the same. "_Tate Krishna_!" The enemy ninja's clawed hands connected with a strange wall of black crystal which did not give way despite the weapons' strength, although the shrill sound it made when it connected was sickening.

"Shi?!" Sakura looked at her. "Get to the other side of Tazuna. We have to cover as much ground as we can!"

"Huh?!" Shi was struggling to keep up. _Naruto!_

She turned back in time to see Sasuke move to Naruto's defense, but a sudden grey flash flickered between the two _genin _boys and their attacker. It slammed into the _Kiri_ assassin as hard as one might run into a brick wall.

The masked man gasped as the wind was ripped from his lungs. A second later, he and the shadow vanished, only to reappear a second later on the other side of Shi's Krishna Shield.

There was another loud 'thwack' as the second _shinobi_ collided with the shape, just as it materialized fully into Kakashi, who was still holding the first _shinobi_ he'd incapacitated under his arm.

"Hi."

Naruto looked up from where he'd been eating dirt. "Kakashi-_sensei_!"

"You're alive!" Sakura was overjoyed.

"Thank the Gods…" Shi no longer felt queasy.

Sasuke looked less impressed. "Show off," he murmured.

"B-But he was…" Naruto whirled around to the place where their sensei's body had been supposedly cut to pieces, only to find a pile of sliced tree branches.  
"Oh. You used _Kawarimi no Jutsu_."

"Sorry I didn't help you right away," Kakashi said to Naruto. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't expect you to freeze up like that."

Beside Shi, Tazuna breathed a heavy sigh relief. "You managed to protect me after all."

"I did say we would," Shi replied as her shield dissolved like ash.

Kakashi then turned to his other three students. "Good job, Sasuke. You reacted quickly and effectively. And you did well also, Sakura, Shi. You protected Tazuna adequately. Nice work."

Shi nodded, appreciating the praise before glancing at Sakura. "Thanks for convincing me to stay behind like that," she whispered. "I might have done something dumb."

Sakura winked at her. "I told you, didn't I?"

Shi then looked over to Naruto, who was still kneeling in the dirt. He looked horrified.

"Naruto!" she hurried over to him. "You're not hurt, are you?" Shi paused when she saw two deep cuts on the back of his hand, undoubtably from the _Kiri shinobi's_ claw-like weapons. "Naruto…"

"I was useless!" He punched the dirt, "And Sasuke looked so cool, like he'd done this a thousand times! Wasn't he scared at all?! I was so lame-_ttebayo_!"

"Naruto…" Shi gripped his arm, silencing his tirade. "It's ok. This is your first time being in an ambush, right? It's normal to have that kind of response."

"Yeah, for an academy student maybe, but I'm a _genin_ now," Naruto asserted, "And Kakashi-_sensei _praised everyone but me. Sasuke even had to come save me!"

"Hey." Sasuke wandering over shut both of them up. "You're not hurt, are you?" Sasuke repeated Shi's question in a mocking tone, "Scaredy-cat."

"Hey! Are you mocking me?!" Shi snapped at him, jumping to her feet and rounding on him.

"Be quiet," Sasuke snapped at her.

Naruto's face was crimson with rage. "Sasuke!"

"Naruto." Kakashi's voice was sharp, "That's enough. Tazuna," he then turned to the bridge builder. "We need to have a talk."

The old man looked nervous.

* * *

"Stop squirming. Let me see your hand," Shi scolded through gritted teeth as she struggled to keep Naruto still, so she could continue bandaging his hand. Kakashi had deduced that the weapons of their attackers had contained poison, so he had promptly extracted it from Naruto's wound and then left Shi to bandage it while he tied up the unconscious _Kiri shinobi_.  
Since Shi did not have to carry her weapons and other ninja tools inside her backpack or thigh-holster like her comrades, she was hanging onto most of the medical supplies.

"There." Shi finally finished wrapping the gauze around Naruto's hand. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"It doesn't really matter, Shi-_chan_. You know how fast I heal anyways." Naruto muttered. He was gazing at his feet, looking rather downcast.

Shi was thinking of a way to cheer him up when their _sensei _called them over to the others. They were all gathered around the tree Kakashi had tied the enemy ninja to; the two _Kiri shinobi_ seemed to have regained consciousness.

"These men are _chunin _from _Kirigakure_. They're tag-team fighters who specialize in a style of fighting that involves ruthlessly beating down their opponents in quick succession."

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the _Kiri shinobi_ snarled.

"A puddle in our path on a clear day where it hasn't rained in weeks? It was pretty easy to deduce that was where you two were concealing yourselves."

"In that case, why did you leave it to the _genin_ to do the fighting?" Tazuna inquired.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing," Kakashi explained. "I had to know who their target was and what they were after." He pointedly looked at Tazuna.

The old man got defensive immediately. "What are you getting at?!"

"I wanted to know if they were after us or you, Master Bridgebuilder. When you submitted your request, you asked for standard protection, from the likes of robbers or highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja hunting you down. If we'd known this, it would have been a B-Rank mission or higher. The task of these _genin_ was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you completed your bridge. If we'd known we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja, we would have staffed differently and charged accordingly. Apparently, you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable as we are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"If what you say is true, Kakashi-_sensei_, then we should go back," Sakura interjected. "And besides, Naruto was poisoned. Shouldn't we-?"

"Hey!" Naruto screamed at her, "Stop treating me like I'm different!"

"Naruto…" Kakashi started, but he cut him off.

"I worked hard to get here! Training everyday by myself, so that I could become a proper ninja and complete challenging assignments like this one. I'm not backing down! I'm not going to be afraid anymore or freeze up in dangerous situations. Old man!" He pointed the blade of his _kunai _at Tazuna. "I promise that I will protect you and get you back to your own village safely. I swear on my honor as a ninja!"

The old bridge builder actually looked a little impressed at Naruto's proclamation.

"Everyone," Kakashi called to them. "Let's focus. We have to keep moving while we still have the light."

* * *

So, their journey continued. The dense forests that surrounded _Konohagakure_ soon faded away to rolling hills and grassy fields full of clover and wider streams. Further along, they passed by villages and rice fields. All along, they followed the rivers as they flowed into one another and eventually spilled out as a massive collective into a great lake which then thinned back out to an even wider river that washed all the way out to sea.

"We're getting close to the border," Kakashi informed them as they were packing up camp one morning. "Like I said when we first started out journey, I will do the talking. Be on your best behavior."

"How will we know when we're at the border? Sakura inquired.

"They'll know before we do," Kakashi replied simply.

With that ominous response hanging over them, the group returned to the path and kept walking. According to Kakashi, the road they were on was one of the main trading routes and would take them all the way to the coast where they would then hitch a boat ride to the island nation of the _Nami no Kuni_, which was only a few miles off the shore.

"You can see the mainland from the island, "Tazuna was telling the kids, "That's how close it is."

"That makes sense." Naruto nodded his head. "I was going to ask how you would build a bridge over the whole ocean."

"Naruto, that's so dumb," Sakura chastised.

"Everyone be quiet." Kakashi abruptly interupted them. A silence was allowed to settle over the group as they all huddled together under a dense collection of trees, whose leaves looked black in the shadows from the sun. "We're not alone."

"W-What?" Sakura started, but Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder to silence her before slowly pointing directly over their heads.

Everyone's eyes snapped to the branches to see a collection of eyes staring down at them from between the leaves.

"Who are they?" Naruto whispered.

"_Shinobi_ from _Yamigakure_," Tazuna replied bitterly. "The Village Hidden in Darkness."

True to their name, the ninja hovering over them were dressed entirely in garments of black and dark green, so that they could disappear almost completely into the shadowed treetops.

"Hello," Kakashi called up to the _shinobi_ group with a polite bow. "We are a _shinobi_ team from _Konohagakure_. We are here to escort Tazuna-_san_ home to the _Nami no Kuni_."

There was no response from the watchers above them.

"I have the paperwork here," Kakashi offered up the indicated scrolls. "Everything should check out."

After a moment, three of the figures abruptly dropped down from the trees, as silent as ever. The trio of _shinobi_ were tall and lanky, but their bodies were almost completely covered up by black and green cloaks. They were wearing conical hats that were also black with dark translucent veils hanging from the brim, so they obscured their eyes.

The one in the center stepped towards Kakashi and held out his hand, as he did so, the gleam of a _hitai-ate_ tied across his brow could momentarily be seen. The symbol carved into it looked like a crescent moon. At his wordless command, Kakashi calmly placed the scrolls in his palm.

The _Yami shinobi_ then calmly thumbed his way through the pages, taking a rather long time. So long, in fact, that the huddled _genin_ began to grow nervous.

He then turned to his two comrades; they whispered amongst themselves in tones too hushed to be heard by even the_ Konoha_ ninja only a few feet away. After another moment, the leader handed the paperwork back to Kakashi and nodded his head.

"You may pass." He spoke with a hoarse voice that startled the four kids.

"Thank you very much," Kakashi inclined his head politely one more time.

"Get moving," the other man snarled in response. Then, without another word, the three ninja jumped back into the trees and disappeared into the trembling branches.

"That was so strange," Sakura whispered, her face looking white as milk in the darkness. "I can feel my knees shaking."

Naruto snarled, annoyed. "What was with those guys? They think they can just pop out of nowhere and be rude to us like that?! Who do they think they are?!"

"This is their territory that we have entered, Naruto," Kakashi replied sharply as he pocketed the scrolls, "And you would be wise to keep your mouth shut. They are still watching us."

Shi could indeed still see dozens of eyes peering at them from out of the branches.

Tazuna looked uncomfortable. "Must we linger here? Can't we keep moving?"

Kakashi looked at him. "You seem nervous."

"I am." The bridgebuilder replied before hurrying further along the path ahead of his escorts.

"You're weary of the _Yami shinobi_," Kakashi remarked as he fell into step beside him once again, "Although, I suppose it makes sense."

"It does?" Naruto inquired from behind them.

"Of course, it does!" Sakura interjected. "The _Nami no Kuni_ has been a colony island of the _In-yō no Kuni_ for over two decades. Read a history book!"

"This is true," Tazuna admitted, "Long ago, my homeland used to be part of the _Mizu no Kuni_. However, it gained its independence following the First _Shinobi _World War, but our country is poor. We do not have many natural resources to trade with other nations, nor do we have any powerful _shinobi _to offer up their services. Therefore, we have always been a poor nation. Eventually, after the Second _Shinobi _World War, we received aide from _Yamigakure_ and the _In-yō no Kuni_, and our nation has been under their rule ever since."

"I suppose this has something to do with why you submitted your request as a C-Rank worthy mission rather than something higher," Kakashi surmised, giving him a sideways glance.

Tazuna nodded. "Yes. Normally, citizens of the _Nami no Kuni_ must hire _Yami shinobi_; however, the vetting process for that is lengthy and often ineffective. You could wait months to receive an answer. I couldn't wait that long, and while it is possible to hire _shinobi_ from other countries, _In-yō no Kuni_ makes it illegal to hire _shinobi _from other villages for any missions higher than a C-Rank. Those must be handled by ninja from one of the _In-yō no Kuni's_ two _shinobi _villages: _Yamigakure_ and _Hikarigakure_."

"I see. That does explain it," Kakashi replied.

"But won't you get in trouble?" Sakura asked. "If they find out you hired us for a mission that technically isn't a C-Rank?"

Tazuna smiled reassuringly, but it was a rather forced one. "Don't worry about me. They won't really care about an old bridgebuilder in the end. They'd pass by a mission claiming to be a C-Rank without a second thought. They've got their own village's problems to worry about."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Those jerks, thinking they can boss everyone else around."

"They are a powerful nation, Naruto." Shi replied. "They're one of the Six Great Nations of the _shinobi _world." She paused when she saw Sakura looking at her, "What? _I've_ read a history book."

"That's enough now." Kakashi cast a glance over his shoulder, "We need to keep moving. If we continue at this pace, we'll reach the _Nami no Kuni_ by tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: Yes, so in this fic, there are actually _six _great shinobi nations instead of five. The Land of Ying-Yang is geographically located between the Land of Fire and Water. If you look at a map of the shinobi continent, it wraps around the bottom part of the Land of Fire and also covers that unoccupied peninsula. This is the first glimpse you get of the country, but you'll learn more about it in the next arc, as well as meet some shinobi from it!

Also, this chapter introduce Shi's third technique; _Tate Krishna_ or the Krishna Shield!


End file.
